Locks of Steel
by AstralVortex
Summary: When a sudden civil war attack breaks out, Link is taken to a strange complex where he is meant to live out the rest of his life. In this complex, he learns that it is a prison for Auras, people with a gene that grants special superhuman abilities. He must now escape the facility with his new friends, and take down the one who set everything up. Modern AU, Superhero AU
1. Chapter 1

**Arc 0: Prologue**

 **Chapter 1: Waterfront**

* * *

 ** _~Link~_**

Link stood tall at the Port of Lurelin, looking over the clear blue Hyrulean Sea. Despite being a local, Link couldn't help but gaze in awe at the massive, expansive Lurelin port and the many buildings and restaurants that lined the waterfront. Fisherman were lining up at piers to get the biggest and most delectable carp that they could find. The sky was clear, not a single cloud in the air, and the sun rose tall. Link was a young boy, only fifteen. He was currently dressed in a blue long-sleeve shirt with a green hoodie and typical blue jeans. His younger sister, Aryll, stood by his side in a black dress with white flower patterns on it with her hair spiraled up into two short pigtails.

"Big Brother, you do this every time we come here," Aryll said. Link turned around to respond.

"Aryll, I'm just admiring the view."

"That's not a bad thing to do, we just don't have much time, remember?" Aryll replied. "Did you forget why we're here?"

"...No." Link trailed, trying to remember exactly what they needed.

"How could you forget, Big Brother?" Aryll asked. She sighed and told him. "We need to buy three King Crabs and a large porgy for our family reunion tonight. Mom's waiting!"

Every year, Link's family would always host a family dinner party. Distant relatives from all over Hyrule, and even from outside, would fly in to meet everyone and have a nice dinner. This year, it was Link's parents' turn. Link's head filled with memories of the previous years, where he, Aryll, and his parents would fly to Castle Town or Kakariko, just to have a nice dinner and socialize with his family. He always thought of it as a hassle. Most of the people he meets at these reunions, he doesn't even know, and doesn't even try to get to know them. Normally, he just locks himself in a room and waits it out. But this time, his mother would definitely not let him. He remembered her words.

 _"We're hosting this year. You need to be more social, and be more welcoming. I will not tolerate you just sitting around, and doing nothing."_

Link reluctantly peeled his eyes off the view and walked through the waterfront, looking for the fisherman's shop they always frequented. Soon enough, the shop came into view, with the bearded fisherman Dennis also making an appearance.

"Aha! Link! Aryll!" Dennis said, stretching his long, hairy arm. Both the siblings shook it.

"Listen, Dennis." Link requested. "We just need four crabs and a porgy."

"Ah. It's that time of the year, eh?" Dennis replied. Link nodded and waited until Dennis slapped the fish and crabs onto the table.

"That'll be four hundred rupees." Link forked over his money and waited as Dennis stuffed them into bags.

"All set!" he said. Link grabbed the seafood and waved goodbye to Dennis.

"I love Dennis." Aryll said. "He's always so nice to us!"

"I know, right?" Link replied. "It's probably because we're so frequent customers. We do go there every two weeks."

Aryll's stomach rumbled. "Big Brother, I'm getting hungry."

"We have some time for lunch. We can go to get some burgers if you really want."

Aryll nodded slowly.

* * *

Link and Aryll were sitting down at a nearby McRonald's and were chowing down on two small burgers. "This should be enough to last you through dinner, right?"

Aryll nodded again. "I can last until maybe around seven."

A McRonald's worker came out of the kitchen and turned on the TV in the restaurant, displaying the local baseball game. Castle Town vs Lurelin.

 _ **"And Guy Zannes finally makes the home run!"** _the announcer said. Suddenly, the channel changed to a news station.

 _ **"Breaking News!"**_

Link adjusted himself and stared right at the television, in shock. "What could be so important?" he asked. Aryll shrugged.

 _ **"We have just recieved word that North Hyrule has voted to secede from Hyrule."**_

A map popped up, showing the parts of the country that have seceded. Luckily, Lurelin was remaining with the rest of Hyrule. However, Lurelin laid right on the border between Hyrule and North Hyrule.

"This is not good." Link said, putting his half-eaten burger down.

 _ **"In addition, North Hyrule has made violent threats against the remaining parts of the country, threatening to attack and use weapons 'unlike any you've ever seen'. The King of Hyrule has made no comment on the matter. We will provide updates when they are due."**_

The TV flicked back to baseball, and Aryll dropped her burger.

"Come on, Aryll. We should head home." Link gathered up the crabs and fish, and led Aryll out back onto the waterfront.

"I can't believe that there would be a secession." Link muttered, while walking and looking down. "Never, had I ever heard a word of North Hyrule seceding. This was just completely out of the blue."

Aryll tugged on Link's pant leg. "What?" Link asked. He saw that Aryll had some confused look on her face. She pointed out onto the water. As Link approached the waterfront, he could make out a large ship.

"It's just a ship. They come here all the time- this is a pier!"

"Look closer." Aryll's expression became even more worrysome. Link scrunched his eyes and directed his attention onto the ship. It was a little too grey and dull to be a cruise ship, but he quickly spotted some weird fixtures to the sides. Hang on- are those _missiles_?

Link's questions were answered as the boat stopped and fired directly at the waterfront. Time seemed to stop as the missile struck a nearby seafood restaurant and blew it to smithereens. A storm of dust and debris was formed from the explosion, causing him to drop the crabs and cover his eyes and nose. Peeking though the gaps in his fingers, he saw almost no trace left of the restaurant except for unidentifiable rubble and several limp bodies. He held Aryll close to him as he peeked through the dust cloud towards the ocean. Three more silhouettes came into view.

"Aryll!" Link shouted, clenching onto her hand. "We have to run!"

The boat fired another missile at the shore, this time destroying a tourist shop. Two boats stopped with the first, and aimed guns and who-knows-what-else at the waterfront. The last didn't show any sign of stopping, and rammed straight into the promenade. Men in red outfits began filing out of the ship, cocking their guns. Citizens began screaming and running for their lives, but that didn't stop these merciless soldiers from grabbing and/or shooting them. Link picked up Aryll off the ground and began running home, never looking back. He approached the stone bridge that led to their neighborhood.

"The bridge!" Link shouted, pointing. He had one foot on the bridge when a missile penetrated it. The bridge collapsed as the explosion sent Link and Aryll flying. He was blasted back towards the promenade, and slid several feet after impact on the rough concrete floor. Standing up, he realized how much his body hurt. He stared at his left elbow, which had been burned from the explosion, and most likely broken from the impact. There were several friction burns across his left shoulder and back, and had several cuts and bruises all over his body.

"Aryll!" Link shouted. "Aryll! Can you hear me?!"

The only response he got was the screams of the civilians, running around like pigs avoiding slaughter. Link rested his head back down onto the concrete in despair. All of a sudden, he felt someone grip his forearm. A force was exerted, lifting Link up off the ground.

"Thank yo-" Link said, only to see that the person who lifted him up wasn't a normal citizen. It was one of the red-outfitted men.

"W-why are you doing this?" Link asked, pushing through his pain.

"Shut up." the man replied. He pricked Link's finger with a spike, and use some sort of machine to measure the blood. He stared at it for a few seconds and then nodded. "You're coming with us."

Two more men appeared out of the dust fog and placed some strange handcuffs on him. They weren't typical handcuffs, as they were made out of one block, similar to a stock used in the medieval days. However, there was a clear glass on the top with some blue light emitting from it.

"Aryll!" Link shouted. "Run!"

The men proceeded to put a gag over Link's mouth and push him towards a heavily guarded truck. Trying to use his mouth to undo the gag, he also tried to break free of the cuffs. Much to his dismay, he was helpless. He tripped over several pieces of rubble, and something he pretty sure wasn't a mannequin. Still, the men shoved him more whenever he slowed down.

 _"What is this?" he thought. "Why is this happening to me? Is Aryll safe? What if she's already... no. NO! I can't think like that! Once I escape, I'm coming back. I have to!"_

Yet, Link complied, knowing his attempts to push past the soldiers and find his sister would be fruitless.

* * *

 **A/N: I really hope you've enjoyed my first chapter! So, my plan for this fic is to update every week. I already have the next two chapters written, and the fourth almost done, so I can stick to that promise for at least the next three weeks.**

 **Edit: Don't get turned away by the short chapter. Things will progress to 3k+ words by Chapter 4 and 5k+ words by Chapter 21.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Arc 0: Prologue**

 **Chapter 2: The Box**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

These red-shirted soldiers guided Link towards a line of three trucks with shipping containers on the back. Knowing that attempts to break out wouldn't work, he reluctantly followed along with them. As Link approached the truck, one man opened up the container. The remaining two picked up Link by the back of his clothes, ripped off his gag, and threw him in. After hearing the sound of the metal door closing, Link instantly ran back over. The container became pitch black, as there were absolutely no lights. Regardless, Link tried to open the door, even while he was handcuffed.

"I've already tried that. It's not happening." a voice said, rather depressed. From the sound of the voice, he could tell that this person was male and in his early teens.

"Do you have any idea what's happening?" Link asked, casually sitting down on the metal floor of the container.

"From the looks of it, we're in a civil war. And we're prisoners of war." The teen said. Link heard a soft noise, assuming that the boy sat down.

"Not that, _why_ are we in here?"

"I can't help you there, buddy. But, it looks like we're not getting out anytime soon."

Link pouted and banged his head against the wall. "Did they hurt you at all?"

"Of course. I got shot in the leg and a few pieces of shrapnel in my arm."

Link winced. "Ah. I got burns and cuts. Guess I can't complain now."

"By the way, what's your name?" the boy asked. "I-I'm Komali."

"Link. I'm Link."

"So, Link. Where do you think we're going?"

Link ignored him and began fiddling with the door of the container again. No luck.

"I have no idea where we're going. I just hope it's not a hellhole. Or a prison."

Link was temporarily blinded as the door opened again for a split second.

*THUD*

It wasn't enough time for Link's eyes to adjust to the light before the doors closed again.

"What was that?" Link asked.

"I'm guessing it was another person." Komali replied.

This next person groaned, and made a sound of what Link can only assume was the person standing up.

"'ya okay?" Link asked.

"Ugh!" a feminine voice said. She pounded her fists against the wall. A few jingling sounds were made, which Link believed was this girl trying to open the door.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked in a both very threatening and scared tone.

"What?" Link asked. "We're no-"

"LET ME GO!"

"Girl, just calm yourself." Komali said. "We're in the same situation as you."

She calmed down and then took a few breaths. "We're in the same boat? You were also captured?"

"Yeah."

"Then, we can escape together!"

"You don't think we've tried that?" Link asked. "Also, it's pitch black in here, and we're handcuffed. How are we going to escape?"

"Oh. Do either of you have a phone?" the girl asked.

"Sorry. D-don't have one." Komali quivered. Link reached his handcuffed hands into his pocket to feel a bunch of broken glass and metal parts. "Mine broke."

"Who are you, anyway?" the girl asked. "I'm Midna."

"Link."

"Komali."

Link stood up from the floor to pace around. In that process, he proceeded to kick Komali, who was sitting.

"Ow!" he shouted. "What're you doing?"

"Sorry! I was just walking around!"

"Hang on." Midna said. "Komali, are you sitting on the floor?"

"Yeah, why? Where else am I supposed to sit?"

"I'm on the bench." Midna said.

"Bench? There's been a bench here this entire time? I've been sitting on the cold, hard floor for the past half hour!"

After around thirty awkward seconds of silence, Link heard Midna squeak.

"Don't sit on me!"

"Uhh... sorry. It's dark!"

"...Excuses."

* * *

After around ten minutes of fruitless attempts to escape, and twenty minutes of sitting in silence, Link finally felt the truck begin to move.

"Welp, we're going." Link said.

The truck accelerated very quickly, which caused Link to slam into the side of the container.

"Aah!" he groaned. The truck stopped, which caused Link to hear two more slams.

"Learn how to fucking drive!" Midna shouted.

"I hate my life." Komali muttered.

Soon, the truck began to move at a constant speed, enough so that Link could walk without losing his footing. He laid down on the floor, trying to get some sleep. However, the combination of the rumbling, hard, cold, metal floors and the trauma he just went through shook him up enough that he absolutely could not.

* * *

 **2 Hours In The Box**

The truck hit a bump in the road, causing Link and presumably the others to fall. Shaken up, Link stood up and fixed his hair.

"Do any of you boys have any food in this joint?" Midna asked.

"I don't have anything, like, on me." Link said.

"Me neither."

"Komali didn't notice that bench, so I'm going to go look around the room to see if we can find anything else." Link confirmed.

"Knock yourself out." Komali replied.

Link felt along the wall to find the corner of the room. He moved on to the next wall, only to feel a metal chain and a soft jingle. _That's the door_ , he thought. He continued around onto the second long wall. Only to run into Midna and Komali.

"Dude!" Komali protested.

"Just go around us!" Midna shouted. Link sighed and went around them, and went right back to feeling across the wall. He almost tripped over something solid, and then went down to feel it. It was round, and made of some cool ceramic.

"I think I found a toilet." Link shouted. He continued and then felt a sink.

"And a sink. I think that's it."

Link went to the bench to sit down.

"Hang on." Midna said. "You found a toilet and sink, but there was no walls or curtains or anything?"

"No..."

"Why would they do that! Especially since I'm a girl, sharing a room with two boys!"

"It's pitch black, Midna!"

"Oh... right."

"Is that all you found?" Midna asked, rather condescendingly.

"Yeah. Unless there's something in the very middle of the container that I missed, but I doubt that. .

All of a sudden, something began to burn Link's nose and cause his eyes to water, smelling like a mixture of bleach and floor cleaner.. He sniffed around. "Do you guys smell that?"

He heard the other two sniff. "Yeah." Komali replied. "Smells like chemicals."

"I don't feel so good..." Midna said. There was an audible *thump*, which likely signified Midna's body hitting the ground.

"Me neither." Komali said. "It's making me... *yawn*... *THUMP*"

Link sat down, putting a hand over his mouth and nose. However, it was pointless as he slowly began to feel sleepy. He removed one of his shoes and used a sock to filter the gas.

 _"Is this how I'm gonna die? Surrounded in darkness and two people who I don't even know what they **look** like? I can't let that happen. What do I do? I should just keep my sock over my mouth and jus... just... br.. e...a..t...h..e_ _"_

*THUMP*


	3. Chapter 3

**Arc 0: Prologue**

 **Chapter 3: Complex**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

Red light funneled into Link's eyes as they fluttered open.

 _"What... what happened?"_ Link thought. He blinked a few times and sat up. Ahead of him, he noticed a stage as well as a plain white screen right behind it. Red light flooded the entire room as Link took note of the situation. He looked down at his limbs. His block handcuffs were gone, but he was cuffed to the seat. In addition to the cuffs, on his left arm laid some sort of bracelet with a screen and sensor on it. Looking around, he noticed that there were hundreds of seats around him, all directed towards the stage. The most insane part, was that not all of them were empty. Within his current field of view, he saw around a quarter of the seats filled with various people of various races, some asleep, others fully awake.

 _"Where the hell am I?"_ he thought, struggling against the cuffs. _"What happened? How long was I out?"_

In addition to the shock, Link also felt very cold, but in a strange way. He could feel the heat of the auditorium, but still felt cold inside with hopelessness and loss of the events that have transpired. He noticed that everyone, awake or not, was spaced out and no one was within speaking range. He also realized that his burns, scrapes, and pains were all gone.

 _"Where are Komali and Midna?"_ Link thought. He desperately looked around for them, hoping to strike up some sort of conversation with their eye and face movements. Then something occurred to him.

 _"I never learned what they looked like."_ he realized. He sat in silence for the next few minutes, the cold inside of him slowly dwindling away. He turned his attention to the stage, only to see a short, young, purple-haired man with a purple cape and hat standing on it. He tapped on the microphone a few times, causing the speakers to blare, waking everyone who wasn't already up.

"Hello? Is everyone awake?" he asked. "Good."

Link was visibly confused. Why was this man speaking so casually to his prisoners? As if they were tourists, going to see the wonders of some museum?

"My name is Vaati." the man announced. "I understand that you are confused, hurt, upset, but I will clear everything up in the next few minutes"

Link sat and stared at the stage, eyes and ears glued to this mysterious man.

"Welcome to the Aura Complex. This is where you'll be staying for the rest of the foreseeable future."

 _"What? I'll be staying the rest of my life here? That's not right! And why did he say it so casually?"_

Several gasps came from the audience.

 _"Why am I here? That's all I want to know."_

"Why are you here, you may be asking. Well, we have tested all of you for a specific gene in your blood, which you tested positive for. That gene causes strange... abilities that are beyond our understanding. People with these abilities, we have named Auras. We intend to study your abilities, which is why you're here."

 _"This guy isn't making any sense. What, we're like superheroes? Ridiculous."_

"You Auras are the key to our future. Your abilities tend to manifest in your teen years, but perish by the time you turn eighteen assuming you've never used them. Each of you has one or two abilities. In the event that you have two, we categorize them. A major ability, and a minor one. The minor one always manifests first. When the time comes, we will call you into our lab for testing."

 _"This guy's on crack."_

"Now, it's time to learn about your daily life here, in this facility. You have all been assigned dorms and roommates. Your lovely bracelet on your wrist will act as your key-card to your dorms, as well as your credit holder and announcement receiver. Just to make things interesting, we have created a complex economy where you can work or sell stuff to get credits, and use the credits to buy stuff, upgrade your dorms, gain access to new facilities, and many other things. However, credits are not necessary to survive, and only exist as a luxury. You get free food at the cafeteria and bathrooms in each of your dorms."

"In addition, we will hold a monthly competition where, if you win, you have the opportunity to win big amounts of credits."

"We have some basic rules for the facility, and they go as follows:

1\. No attempting to escape or leaving the facility whatsoever.

2\. Attendance to the lab is mandatory when you are requested.

3\. No intense violence.

4\. No theft, murder, anything a typical community wouldn't allow.

5\. 'Night Hours' range from 9 PM to 6 AM, where several facilities are closed and additional rules apply.

6\. In the event you owe money, you will be put in debt. If you cannot repay the debt by exactly one week from when the debt began, you will be put in solitary for the amount of hours equal to one-quarter of your remaining debt, rounded up to the nearest hour.

7\. Follow each facility's individual rules, set outside the entrance.

8\. Rules are set to change at any time.

Any violation of rules will net you time in solitary or a deduction in credits, based on severity."

"It is now time for you to make your way to your dorms. It will state your dorm number on your bracelet, which will act as your key card. Please do not go anywhere else until further notice. Signs have been placed in order for you to find the dorms."

With that, the cuffs on Link's chair unlocked, and he stood up, anxious to stretch his muscles after a long period of unconsciousness. He stared at the glowing blue number on the strange, mechanical bracelet on his wrist. The number was rotating around the bracelet, but it was slow enough for Link to be able to read it. 13-A. He stood up and cautiously walked towards the exit to the strange auditorium to see a hallway, ominous in the fact that there were no windows, and all of the lights were coming from an overhead fixture.

 _"Was he really telling the truth? Is this really where I'm going to live until the day I die?"_ Link thought. As of now, he may as well play along. Lie or not, he figured it was best to follow the rules. Just then, a blur of orange and black ran right into Link, knocking him over.

"Get out of my way!"

 _"Wait. I know that voice._ " Link thought. "Midna?"

The blur lifted its head as Link saw a Twili teen right in front of him with glimmering orange hair. "Link?" she asked. "Is that you?"

"You're a Twili?"

Midna stood up and brushed herself off. "Whatever. I have to get out of this lunatic hellhole. That Vaati guy is a complete crackhead."

With that, the Twili girl ran off. "Midna, wait!"

She stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder in a very dramatic way. "What? Don't tell me you want to stay here. We're prisoners, for fuck's sake!"

"You saw what they did to the outside world. If they catch you trying to escape, you'll be put into 'solitary', or worse. I think it's best to play along for now, and maybe escape later when we have a solid idea of what the complex is like! If you want to be free, it's best to take it slow. Just think about it."

Midna stood and contemplated her choices. "Yup, thought about it!" She darted off as a crowd of people stood and watched.

*BZZT*

Within a few seconds, Midna collapsed to the floor and began twitching and screaming in pain. Vaati and a few redshirts appeared to pick her up and carry her. They passed right by Link and the crowd.

"Let this be a warning to you." Vaati said, passing by the crowd. "We have cameras. We can see and hear everything that happens in this facility. Don't worry. She's fine. We'll just put her back in her dorm. But the next time you disobey our commands, the punishment is solitary. Trust me, you do not want to end up there."

Vaati walked away to the dorms with an unconscious Midna. Link and the rest of the bystanders looked down in fear as they trekked to their rooms. As he approached a door labeled 'DORMITORY HALL A', he saw a list of rules engraved into the side.

 **Dormitory Hall A Rules**

 **1\. No excessive noise-making during the Night Hours**

 **2\. No entering a dorm that is not your assigned dorm during Night Hours**

 **3\. Dormitory A is a Boys' dorm. Girls are allowed in, but not during Night Hours.**

 **4\. No girls allowed in the Dormitory A restroom or shower whatsoever.**

Link took it all in and entered the dormitory hall. However, there was a noticeable change in scenery. The walls of the dorm hall were less reminiscent of a prison or facility, but more reminiscent of a hotel. The carpet had a nice flower design on it and seemed like it would be comfortable to walk on, even if he had no shoes. The walls were a beige color, but was definitely a change from the concrete, and the more natural light fixtures seemed a little cozier. There was still no sign of a window, however. Weaving through the halls, he passed Hylians, Zoras, and Sheikah until he found room 13-A. He noticed a scanner to the left of the doorknob, and brought his bracelet up to it. It made an audible *BEEP* and *whirr-CLICK*. He tried the door handle as it swung open with ease.

On the inside of his door, he found an average room. There were two twin-sized beds on either side of the room, each with its own nightstand and storage drawer underneath it. In the middle stood a long, beautiful wall mirror surrounded by two wooden wardrobes. On each side laid a desk and a swivel chair, as if the creator of the room was trying to make everything perfectly symmetrical. The one thing that didn't match up was the surveillance camera on the ceiling of the top back-right corner, as well as the young, white-haired Rito boy sitting on the left bed.

"H-hello." he said. "Are you my roommate? My name's Komali."

"You're Komali? I didn't think we'd see each other again!" Link proclaimed. Komali's eyes widened at Link's voice.

"Link? Is that you?"

"Sure is. I never expected you to be a Rito."

"I-it's hard to know without seeing!" Komali said. "I thought you'd look different too."

"Yeah... i know."

Although Link enjoyed making a new friend, he couldn't get his mind off his family, and couldn't ignore what his life would become from now on.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading! I think I'm just going to flat out say that this fic updates on weekends, and you may get an additional chapter on Wednesdays if I have both chapters available and there's enough reviews, follows, etc.**

 **An additional note, is that the chapters from now on will be 3000+ words long. Due to this, it's going to be a little harder for me to keep up my schedule, so if I miss an update without any notice, I'll just post it on the next weekend or Wednesday as it's nothing to be worried about.**

 **One last thing: Due to the nature of this fic, I'm going to need a lot of characters. But, since** **I have the Zelda characters as the extremely important people in the fic, I'm unfortunately going to have to use OC's for the smaller roles. I know a lot of you dislike OC's, but the roles** **they will fill are pretty minuscule in the overall storyline. So, that's that. If you have any questions or suggestions, PM me, and I will ignor- i mean answer or take a look at them.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Arc 1: The Aura Complex**

 **Chapter 4: Reminiscence**

* * *

 _ **~Zelda~**_

Zelda stared at the bracelet currently locked onto her left arm. '07-B' it read. She sighed and began walking through the dull and prison-esque hallway to find Dormitory Hall B.

 _"Room 7-B."_ she repeated, despite the fact that she could stare at her bracelet at any time.

She walked up to her dorm room, hoping to hop on her bed and think about what just happened. About what that Vaati man said.

 _"This is where you'll be staying for the rest of the foreseeable future."_

 _"That gene causes strange... abilities that are beyond our understanding."_

These words rang over and over in her mind as she approached her room. Of course she was confused. Of course she wanted to leave. But as of now, there was no situation where the pros outweighed the cons. She swiftly unlocked the door with her bracelet and entered. As she looked around the dorm, she saw two empty beds laying on each side of the room, with two desks, two dressers, and two nightstands. There was a mini fridge in the right side of the room that, once Zelda opened it, she realized was already stocked with sodas, bottled water, and juices. She shut the mini fridge door and explored the desk. She pulled a drawer out of the bottom of the desk only to find a pad of writing paper and around five pens. She closed it swiftly and crawled onto her unexpectedly soft, comfortable bed. Despite waking up from a who-knows-how-long slumber in the auditorium, it didn't feel the same as real, comfortable, sleep. Checking the time on her bracelet, she realized it was only 2:30 PM. Regardless, she shut her eyes to let the familiar sleep sink in.

* * *

Zelda was jolted awake by the speaker system in her room. She heard the voice that she recognized as Vaati on the other end.

 **"Attention all residents. You may now leave your dorm room if you wish, and explore the facility to your heart's content. Please remember to abide by all rules of the Complex, as well as rules plastered beside the entrance to each room."**

Sitting up, Zelda rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Checking the time, she saw that she had gotten two and a half hours of rest, as it was 5:00 PM. But, one thing had changed about the room before she fell asleep. One of the swivel chairs at the desks were occupied. She sat and stared at the redhead, who was facing the other way and seemed to be reading something. Zelda quickly got out of her bed and walked up to her new roommate.

"Hey." she said. The girl turned around and replied. "Uhh... hi. You're awake!"

"Yeah... I was just really tired, that's all." Zelda said.

"What's your name?" the red-haired girl asked. "I'm Malon. Malon Lon."

"Zelda." she replied, shaking Malon's hand. "What're you reading there?"

"It's a pamphlet. Vaati or someone else slid them under the doors while you were sleeping. It displays the layout of the complex, where you can make credits, how much access to certain facilities cost, and several other things. I'm normally a bit more energetic, but after what I've just been told and the fact that my hometown and ranch were shot up, I'm just kind of losing hope right now."

Zelda was speechless. "Hang on. What did you just say?"

"I'm normally a bit more energetic."

"No, the other part."

"I'm just kind of losing hope right now?"

"No, you said something about your town being shot up?"

"Oh." Malon said. "Yeah. That's kind of the reason I'm here. That's kind of the reason we're all here."

"I don't recall anything about a mass shooting."

"Well, it wasn't really a mass shooting than more of a war attack." Malon corrected. "I've talked to a few people, and they all have similar stories to me. If you weren't abducted from that act of war, how did you get here?"

"Well... I..." Zelda said. "..."

Zelda tried to reach for the memory, but she was coming up short. She just couldn't wrap her head around it. "I'm sorry. I think I'm just a little bit confused."

"It's fine, you don't have to tell me if it's too hard for you. I know it may be personal."

"No, it's not that. I just can't seem to remember."

"...? You don't remember? I doubt that's something you'd forget. Where are you from?"

Once again, Zelda could not retrieve the answer. It was lost, irretrievable. If Zelda's mind were a maze, the memory was walled off on all four sides. She knew it was there, but she couldn't seem to consciously recall it.

"Silence again?"

"I'm sorry." Zelda said, putting her hands in front of her. "This is... this is just too weird for me."

"What is?" Malon asked.

"I... I can't remember."

"You're an amnesiac." Malon said, her hand covering a small gasp. "Alright, alright." Malon continued, tone getting continuously concerned for her roommate. "You remembered your name."

Zelda nodded, slight tears streaming down her face.

"What's your last name?"

Zelda thought for a second, but once again, no answers were coming to her mind. "I-I don't know."

"Okay, here's my last question. Tell me, what's the last thing you remember?"

She took a moment to think. She desperately reached for memories such as her last birthday, first days at school, what her parents looked like, but nothing came to mind. The tactic she decided to use was to think of today, and begin moving backwards. Meeting Malon. Room 7-B. The introduction speech. Waking up strapped to the chair.

...

"The last thing? Waking up in that chair in the auditorium."

"And since then, you never realized that you were walking without your memory?"

Zelda nodded.

"Look, Zelda, as much as I would like to help, and with how serious this is, I don't know what to do. For now, let's just walk around the complex. We'll explore what our new world has in store for us. Maybe if there is an infirmary or a hospital or something, we can go to them. But now, let's take our minds off that."

Malon stood up in her beautiful white dress, right hand outstretched to Zelda. She grabbed it as Malon hoisted her up. She wiped the tears off her face and tried to stop herself from sniffling. Looking around the room to distract herself, she noticed a mirror on the back wall.

 _"Wait. I don't even remember what I look like."_ she thought. She walked up at it and stared at her own reflection. From what she could see, she was a medium-height teenage girl. She had blue eyes, golden locks and was currently wearing an average white T-shirt and a blue cardigan with a gray skirt. Around her neck hung a silver necklace with some sort of golden gem in it.

"This- this is me?" she asked herself. Malon stared at her, amused. "Like what you see?"

"There is no way I'm this gorgeous. No way."

"Wow. Ego much?" Malon replied, laughing. "I see what you mean though. You can flaunt your beauty to the guys in the dining hall. Or the girls if you're into that. Let's go. I'm starving."

Zelda and Malon left their room and the girls' dormitory.

"I hate how this hallway is so... unwelcoming." Malon explained. "Why is it all concrete? Why can't they just decorate it or put out some nice tile on the floor?"

Zelda kind of ignored her as her eyes were gazing on the amount of rooms they were passing to get to the dining hall. She noticed a Dormitory Hall A, la0undry room, pool, grocery store, auditorium, and library before they turned a corner into the dining hall door. She stopped for a second to read the rules plastered on the side.

 **Dining Hall Rules**

 **1\. No food fights**

 **2\. 1st serving is free. If you want seconds, you must pay an extra 10 credits.**

 **3\. Breakfast will be served from 6 AM to 12 PM**

 **4\. Lunch will be served from 12 PM to 3 PM**

 **5\. Dinner will be served from 5 PM to 9 PM**

 **6\. If you are taking your food out of the dining hall, please take a to-go box.**

The dining hall was unlike anything that Zelda had expected. Going in, she expected a prison-esque cafeteria, with metal trays, mystery meat, and solid gray floors, tables, and walls. But, she got a work-like cafeteria with plastic trays, delicious-looking food, and polka-dotted floors, wooden tables, and beige walls. A main difference was the lack of windows. She directed her gaze towards the large menu on the back wall.

 **Today's Dinner Menu**

 **Normal Options: Beef Meatloaf w/ Gravy or Pepperoni Pizza**

 **Vegetarian Options: Tofu Caesar Salad or Cheese Pizza**

 **Sides (Choose 2): Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli, French Fries, Creamed Spinach**

 **Dessert: Chocolate Cake**

Looking closer, Zelda realized that there were no actual people dishing out the food. The people ahead of them were tapping orders on a screen, as the food came out from a slot. She leaned in close to whisper to Malon.

"This place has really high tech for a prison."

"I'm pretty sure they're just trying to disguise the fact that this is a prison, and make us less eager to try to leave." Malon replied. "This place is so much more preferable than a prison, in my opinion."

"Don't tell me you want to stay here?" Zelda asked.

"Oh. Definitely not. I'm just saying that this is preferable to living a life in jail."

While Malon's words rang true, she couldn't help but think.

 _"A life outside is preferable to living a life in here. The first chance I get, I'm leaving."_

"Are you just trying to look to the positives?" Zelda asked.

"Am I really that transparent?" Malon replied. "I'm just trying to cheer myself up. But, in all honesty, you're the one who needs to be cheered up."

The two girls approached the ordering machine, which was just a screen in the wall.

"How does this work?" Zelda asked. She noticed a scanner below the screen and scanned her bracelet. Then, the four dinner options appeared on the screen. She tapped the option of 'pepperoni pizza' and then tapped 'french fries' and 'steamed broccoli'. She waited a few seconds before the opening resembling a mail slot opened up, and pushed her food out towards her. The food looked much better than she expected. The pepperoni was huge, and the cheese looked warm and freshly melted. The smell of cheese and tomato emitted from it, making it seem vastly more appetizing than square school pizza. On the side was steaming french fries, which somehow smelled better than the fries at McRonalds. The brocolli steamed as well, emitting another fragrant smell into the air. She grabbed the tray, and waited for Malon to finish ordering. As she turned around, Zelda saw that she had gotten a sizable slice of meatloaf and gravy. On the side, she had the mashed potatoes and french fries.

"You must really like potatoes to get both of those sides." Zelda said.

"Since I have a side of gravy, I can eat it with both my potatoes and my fries."

"Fries with gravy?"

"Have you never tried them? They're delicious!" Malon proclaimed, obviously getting excited.

"Why don't you tell me how delicious they are?" Zelda asked playfully.

"Just try some." Malon said, grabbing a fry and scooping gravy onto it. She shoved it into Zelda's mouth.

Zelda wiped her mouth. "Was that necessary?"

Malon sighed. "Do you like it or not?"

"Oh, it's actually pretty good!"

"See?"

Malon and Zelda plopped down on the end of a vacant table. "So, why don't you tell me everything that happened to you for you to arrive here?" Zelda asked. "Maybe that'll jog my memory."

Malon looked down. "Okay, if you say so. This is going to be a long story.

My father and I live alone on a ranch. We were on our way to Kakariko to sell our famous Lon Lon Milk, but then _they_ arrived. I noticed a tank in the distance, and they began firing at us. I got separated from my father in the struggle. As I was trying to make my way back to him, a group of men in red shirts seized me. They grabbed me, then threw me into a dark container on a truck. A few hours after that, I think we got hit by knockout gas, and then the next thing I remember is waking up here."

"Oh. I'm really sorry about what happened to you."

"It's alright. What matters now is that you're okay."

Malon put her hands around her shoulders. "No. What matters now is that I can escape this place and return to my old life."

Zelda couldn't help but try to remember about who she left behind and forgotten. They were probably worried sick about her, most likely hearing about the assault from the news channels.

 _"Even if I did escape, how would I know where to go, who to look for, who to trust?"_

"I...I think I'm done with dinner." Zelda finished, standing up. "All this depression is kind of ruining my appetite." She grabbed her tray of half-eaten food and walked a couple of feet to the garbage. When she returned, Malon was scarfing the meatloaf down.

"Sorry. Didn't want to keep you waiting." Malon said. In a couple of seconds, she was done with her food and placed the tray on a shelf on top of the garbage bin.

"We should... we should probably walk around." Zelda insisted.

"If we want any chance of escape any time soon, we should get a good survey of the area."

Malon and Zelda speed-walked out of the dull dining hall and began treading around the hallways.

"They really need to decorate the halls of this place." Malon mentioned. "The dorm hall was very nice, almost like a hotel. The dining hall and hallways are just extremely bland and make me want to keel over and die."

"By the way, there's some things you ought to know." Malon said. She handed her the pamphlet that she was reading earlier. "I read most of it before you woke up, but it's a pretty big pamphlet. The important thing I want you to know is the facilities we have access to. Just read that part."

Malon looked over Zelda's shoulder and pointed to a segment labelled 'Facilities', surrounded by a blue box.

 **Facilities**

 **(Free)**

 **Dorm Halls A and B**

 **Auditorium**

 **Infirmary**

 **Dining Hall**

 **Laundry Room**

 **Grocery Store**

 **Kitchen**

 **Mines ($)**

 **Factory ($$)**

 **(500 Credits Each)**

 **Department Store**

 **Buffet**

 **Gym & Pool**

 **Indoor Sports Field**

 **Market**

 **Library**

 **(1000 Credits Each)**

 **Restaurant**

 **Arcade**

 **Park**

 **Garden**

 **Casino**

 **Spare Rooms (1 Per Person)**

"There are so many things here." Zelda said, kind of stunned. For a prison, this place seemed like it was some sort of society, almost like the outside world. Despite her situation, she couldn't help but feel relieved that a life here wasn't going to be _that_ boring. She looked at her bracelet, which had only five hundred credits on it.

"So far, unless we work, we can't get access to any of the new stuff." Malon said. "I'm not eager to work right now. Let's just explore the place we have now."

Malon and Zelda looked at the map described on the pamphlet for Building A. "Want to check out the grocery store?" Zelda asked.

"Sure. Whatever you want, giiirrrl."

The two girls came back the way they came and passed by the auditorium and the library. Zelda and Malon stopped and stood broad in front of the entrance to the grocery store, which was only distinguished by the shop name on top of the door. As Malon entered, Zelda went quickly to read the rules engraved to the right of the door.

 **Grocery Store Rules**

 **1\. No Shoplifting**

 **2\. No opening products in-store**

 **3\. No Recklessness**

 **4\. You break it, you buy it. (If you don't have enough credits, you will be put in debt.)**

After reading the rules thoroughly, Zelda followed Malon into the store. What greeted her was a typical grocery store layout. It was small, no larger than a soccer field. The ceiling lights were typical rectangular LED lights that were placed in a particular pattern to get maximum light coverage. While there were grey cashier desks with conveyor belts and scanners, there were no actual people manning them. Zelda could, however, see a scanner similar to the one used to enter her room. She stared at her bracelet for a second, but then tore her gaze towards the rest of the store. It was separated into five categories: Produce, Meats, Dairy, and Snacks. Just above the Dairy sign was another intimidating surveillance camera, similar to a teacher watching his subjects.

"Zelda, 'ya gonna buy anything?" Malon shouted from the snack aisle, holding a bag of Spud Chompers and Buglehorns.

"Nah. I'd rather buy access to the Library or something." Zelda replied. Malon thought about that for a second and then put her chips back on the shelf. "You're right. It would probably be better to buy a new area anyway."

"I'll be off to the library then." Zelda informed. "Are you gonna come with me, or go somewhere on your own?"

"I think I'm going to go back to the dorm. I'm not sure if the library is worth that five hundred credits, considering that we don't know how many credits we could make by working those jobs." Malon replied. Zelda nodded and waved goodbye.

"I'll probably be back by eight." Zelda said. She walked off away from the redhead and stood in front of the giant, wooden, library doors. The look of the doors were completely ruined by the electronic scanner placed underneath the door handle. She once again stared at the rule board.

 **Library Rules**

 **1\. You may not remove books from the library.**

 **2\. Please be silent when others are reading.**

 **3\. No food or drink in the library**

 **4\. Destruction of a book will cost 15 credits.**

Zelda scanned her bracelet on the electronic scanner.

*WHIRR-CLICK*

The doorknob unlocked as she slowly entered. When she did, she saw a circular room, with a diameter around twenty-five meters. The floor was made out of dark spruce wood, but had a soft, red carpet in the middle. On top of the carpet stood six desks, each with a desk lamp. There was a single, dim light hanging from the center of the room. But the defining feature, was that the walls were lined from floor to the ten-foot ceiling with books. There were two massive, rolling ladders lying on some circular track on the perimeter of the room. On the wooden floor, were two words, dividing the room into two halves. Fiction and Non-fiction.

 _"This place is amazing."_ Zelda thought. _"And, I have it all to myself."_

Zelda walked up to the Non-Fiction section, and gripped the ladder. She climbed up the stable scaffold, and then pulled out a book at random.

"The Hyrulean-Labrynnan War" she whispered, slowly reading the cover of the book. She descended the ladder and then strode to one of the mahogany desks. She turned on the lamp, and began reading.

 _"Although I do want to escape, this library is heaven_ " she thought _"I could live like this."_. But no matter what she told herself, she just couldn't fill the void of her past.

* * *

 **I'm posting this today as there will be no post on Sunday.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Arc 1: The Aura Complex**

 **Chapter 5: Plans**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

Link lazily lied down underneath his soft covers in the dark room. His stomach growled, but he refused to meet its request. Ever since Komali had left to go eat dinner at six, Link had been lying in his bed, doing absolutely nothing for hours. Even if he wanted to eat, or have fun, how could he? How could he relax when he knows his sister is most likely dead? When his friends and family are looking for him? When he's trapped in this facility, never being allowed to leave, or see the light of day? He knew that at some point, he would have to leave his bed. He would have to eat, use the bathroom, go to the labs, whatever. But, for now, all he could do was greive. Several times throughout the day, Komali had tried to get him up. But, Link could see through his poker face. Komali was just as upset as he was, like his voice signified, but he was trying to look brave for Link's sake.

Link's groaned as his vacant stomach went through a hunger pang. This was it. He wouldn't be able to go any longer without eating. Lifting up his left arm, he checked the time, 3:06 AM. Had he really been lying in bed for ten hours straight? He sat up and realized that Komali was already sleeping. He walked out of the dormitory and jogged out of Dormitory Hall A. Now, as it was during the Night Hours, every other light was turned off in the hallway, making the halls seem even more ominous than when he went to the Dormitory Hall for the first time. He jogged and turned the corner to the dining hall. He turned the knob, only to realize that it was locked. He checked the rules of the dining hall, and realized that the hall didn't serve food during the night hours. Sighing, he decided to run to the grocery store. He dashed inside to grab some food before he keeled over and died. The grocery store was just as dim as the hallways, but there was just enough light to make out what each product said. He trotted to the 'Snacks' aisle, and noticed the price tag on each item. Stretching out his arm, he picked up a rather large pack of potato chips, sour cream n' onion flavored, of course. Checking the price tag on the shelf, he noticed it costed four credits. He wanted to save his credits, but this was the only option at this point. He picked up the chips, as well as a refrigerated Cuckoo sandwich and a Cuckoo Salad. He walked over to the cashier counter, but was stumped as of what to do. His eyes gazed towards the electronic scanner lying where a typical credit card machine would be, and then looked at his bracelet. He scanned it over the scanner, and a screen next to it opened up. Reading it, it displayed a receipt-like interface, where it asked him to confirm his action.

 **Confirm your Order**

 **1 Potato Chip, Sour Cream & Onion - 3 Credits**

 **1 Cuckoo & Egg Sandwich - 5 Credits**

 **1 Cuckoo & Thousand Island Salad - 4 Credits**

 **Total Price: 12 Credits**

 **Is this correct?  
**

 **YES/NO**

Link tapped the YES option and bagged his groceries. Food in hand, he sleepily tried to stumble back to his dorm. In his zombie-walk, he ran into a couple of concrete walls, but managed to walk towards the dorm hall. But, as he was making his way back to his dorm within the hall, he noticed space in the very back of the hall that he didn't see before, likely due to the sheer crowdedness after the auditorium. He stumbled his way for the solid forty-meter trek from his dorm room to this new space. As he approached it, he could make out a few couches and tables. Arriving at this area, he realized it was some sort of lounge. It was a rectangular room, stretching around twenty meters back and around twenty meters on the left side and forty on the right.

Looking closer at the furniture in the still-dim night lights, there was a brick fireplace in the center of the room, with a flame ongoing. A metal barrier closed off the flame from anyone who wanted to touch it, but it was close enough to get burns if touched. Armchairs and couches lined the left and right sides of the room, while the north side of the room had a massive screen that seemed to have no remote. There was a massive couch that could easily support upwards of twenty people, all aimed towards the TV. A circular couch surrounded the fireplace, all getting engulfed in its warmth. The carpet was red and contained the same pattern that the dorm hallway did, and the walls also had the same beige color as the dorm hall. Close to each corner stood a coffee table, with an ovular couch surrounding it on all but one side. The lights were now small and circular as opposed to the rectangular fixtures in the hallways, but still had every other light turned off.

Liking what he saw, Link sat down at the near-left coffee table and opened his Cuckoo sandwich. His aching belly refused to let Link stall, and forced him to dive right into the sandwich. The mixture of sliced hard-boiled Cuckoo eggs as well as the cuckoo meat itself melded together in Link's mouth, fused with the flavor of mayonnaise and mustard. Within less than a minute, the sandwich was gone. Needing more to satisfy himself, he cracked open the Cuckoo salad. He poured the dressing over the lettuce and meat, and started digging in.

"Enjoying that?" a voice asked. Link turned his head, still bringing the fork up to his mouth. He almost choked as he saw a pretty blonde woman wearing a necklace and a blue cardigan.

"Uhh... hi?" Link asked, mouth still full of salad. The girl sat down across from him.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Zelda." she said. She outstretched her right hand, as Link awkwardly took out his left. After realizing what he did, he awkwardly changed to his right hand and shook it. Zelda chuckled.

"I'm Link." he said, smiling, trying to cover his mistake.

"Don't worry about that. Are you left-handed?"

"Uhh... yeah." Link replied, starting to get nervous. "Why are you in the boys's dorms? And why are you up at this hour?"

Zelda elegantly gestured to the hallway entrance to the right of the one Link just exited. "It doesn't seem like you paid very much attention in your rush to feed yourself. It looks like both dorm halls lead to this same lounge."

Link thought back to the rules plastered on the wall next to Dormitory Hall A. "In that case, it looks like the 'No Girls in Dorm A' rule doesn't apply to the lounge."

Zelda adjusted her golden hair, a lock of which fell in front of her beautiful blue eyes. "As for your second question, I kind of slept right after I got back from the auditorium. After that, my roommate and I ate dinner together, and then she went back to the dorm. I decided to check out the library, which is very miraculous for a prison like this. I've been there looking at books for a solid six hours, but I then started walking around to see if I could run into anyone. And here we are."

Link placed the plastic fork inside of the empty plastic salad bowl, and then closed the lid. "I've kind of just been depressed this whole day after what just transpired with the shooting, and the kidnapping. I refused to leave my bed, but I just couldn't help but get up when my stomach demanded it."

"So, that was real?" she muttered, very quietly.

"What was that?" Link asked.

"Oh, nothing don't worry." Zelda replied. "You seem nice. Why don't you and your roommate meet me tomorrow for breakfast?"

"Is this a date you're asking me on?"

"No! Well... not that I would mind. But, what I had in mind was to discuss ideas to escape this place."

Link looked down. "I gladly accept your offer to meet you tomorrow, but I don't think discussing escape theories is a good idea."

Zelda looked up confusedly. "I don't see your point."

Link sighed and tossed his salad bowl in a nearby garbage bin. "I dunno if you've noticed, but there have been surveillance cameras everywhere in this place. They're in the dorms, in the hallways, in the dining hall. If we just discuss them openly, we'll get caught in no time. There might not be a rule about discussing escape plans, so I don't think we'll get in trouble, but they're most likely watching and listening, which would allow them to stop a plan if we actually start them by, like, fixing some flaw in the complex, or guarding an entrance of a room we need to use."

"I have a workaround for that. Just meet me in the dining hall at 9 AM sharp. I'll be sitting with a redhead girl."

She patted Link on the back as she stood up to enter Dormitory Hall B. Link trekked back to room 13-A, and scanned his bracelet over the door. After hearing it unlock, he carefully and slowly opened the door to not disturb Komali. He quietly locked it behind him, and felt around the walls back to his bed. He covered himself in his white sheets, and just thought about what this girl had in store for him.

* * *

Link slowly opened his eyes to see the light turned on and Komali sitting at his desk.

"I see you finally fell asleep," Komali said. "How long were you up? I was getting concerned for you."

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and waited for them to adjust. "Around 4 AM. I got too hungry so I went to buy some stuff from the store, and then I met this nice girl, and she invited me to meet her for breakfast. You come too."

"Oh. Alright. I guess I can use a few more friends." The young Rito boy stood up and reached his hand out towards Link's bed. Link grabbed it as he pulled him up.

"I feel disgusting." Link said. "I don't have a change of clothes on me, and I don't just want to stand around naked."

"Why don't you just go take a shower? I took one yesterday, although I don't have any other clothes either. There's a box you can put your clothes in, and then just put them back on afterwards."

Link nodded and looked at his bracelet on his left arm. 8:00 it said. He decided there was enough time, and left his room. Entering the dorm bathroom for the first time, he noticed it was almost the same as any public bathroom that he had been to, albeit much nicer. The left wall had toilet stalls and urinals, while the right wall had the sinks. In the back stood five shower heads, each surrounded by an open shower curtain. On the inside of the shower, there was a glass cabinet for what he could only assume was his clothes and belongings. The other side had a container for soap and shampoo. Not wasting any time, Link entered the shower and pulled the curtains, tying two straps from the curtain to a hook on the wall.

* * *

As Link exited the bathroom, he once again checked the time. '8:30' it said. _"Damn that was a long shower, but I'm not paying water bills so I don't care."_ He finger-combed his messy blonde hair and returned to the room, just to check on Komali. "I'm going to head to the dining hall early." Link said. Komali nodded and gave him a thumbs' up.

Link entered the dining hall to see a massive line heading towards the ordering screen, with almost all of the tables crowded. Looking up at the wall, he saw the breakfast menu.

 **Today's Breakfast Menu**

 **Normal Options: Bacon and Eggs, Bagels and Lox**

 **Vegetarian Options: Yogurt and Cereal, Pancakes**

 **Sides: Fresh Fruit, Hash browns**

 **Beverages: Water, Coffee, Orange Juice, Milk**

After precariously waiting in line for a solid fifteen minutes, Link selected Bacon and Eggs with a side of hash browns and orange juice.

 _"Wow this place is cool."_ he thought. _"Not that I don't want to leave!"_

Link continuously snacked on his bacon for a few minutes before he saw the familiar golden hair in the diminishing line of people. He waved at Zelda, who happened to be standing next to some average-height redhead in a white dress. He put his fork down, as he was already finished eating, and tapped his foot against the floor in anticipation. Zelda and the redhead approached him, both carrying plates of pancakes and fruit, and then sat down across from him.

"It's nice to see you again, Link." Zelda said. "By the way, this is my roommate, Malon."

Malon waved at him with a smile and stretched out her right hand. Link stretched his left one again, and then quickly corrected his repeated mistake.

"I heard that your roommate was going to be here?" Malon asked.

"He should be. I think he just took a while to get ready." Link turned to the line to see the silver-haired Rito, being an obvious outlier of the surrounding Hylians, Zoras, and Gerudos. "What is it that you wanted to discuss, Zelda?"

"We should probably wait until your roommate arrives. I don't want to discuss it more than once." Zelda replied. Link nodded, knowing that Zelda would clear things up in a few seconds.

Komali arrived to the table with a bagel with salmon on top. "Hi. I'm Komali."

"Your roommate's a Rito?" Malon asked.

"I'm right here." Komali replied. "If you're going to act surprised or upset, do it behind my back."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean any offense, I just..."

"It's fine." Komali said. "I know, I haven't seen any other Rito in this facility either. It's kind of lonely."

"There's over a hundred people in this facility. I bet that there are, you just haven't seen them yet." Zelda said. "For now, it's planning time."

Komali stared at Link confusedly. "What is this girl talking about?"

"A plan to possibly escape. Just keep your ears open."

Zelda continued. "Okay. You've noticed how there have been cameras all over the facility, in every room?"

Link, Malon, and Komali nodded. "Of course." Komali replied. "It's to monitor us, to make sure we don't try to break out or break any rules, right?"

"That's exactly correct, Komali. You're really bright. But, anyways, it follows suit that they're somehow miking us"

"Yeah. I brought that up last night. What's your workaround?" Link replied, rather impatiently.

"I'm getting to that. Regardless of where they put the microphones, whether it's in the table, in the walls, in our bracelets, words will just get scrambled if it's in a loud area. That's why I suggested we meet here at this time exactly. It's the typical time where people wake up and eat breakfast, so it's the most crowded time of the morning. I suggest that we should discuss our plans and our findings here, at 9 AM and 6 PM every day. If it's possible, try not to discuss the plans anywhere else, even to each other in the dorm rooms."

Link nodded. It made sense, after all, but it amazed him to see how she thought of this. "Do you have a plan of action for us, right now? Other than explaining our meetings times."

"I do." Zelda replied. "Our plan of action is this. Start working, and try to see how many areas we can open up with the credits. To maximize efficiency, we should report what we opened up, and if there was anything significant that could be used in our escape. Don't open up any areas that others have already accessed, unless there's something useful, as that's counterproductive and will just waste our credits."

Zelda took out a notepad and a pen. She furiously scribbled several words onto the paper, and then turned it around for everyone to see. "This is a list of all the areas that we should access. I already opened the library, so you should each open up a new area other than the library. None of you have used any credits yet, no?"

Link slowly raised his hand. "I did. Remember? The sandwich and salad?"

"In that case, you're going to have to start working. How many did you spend?"

"Only around 12 credits."

Komali scratched his beak. "That seems easy to work back up, considering they gave us 500 to start with."

Link nodded as Zelda carried on. "In that case, it would be best for Komali and Malon to open up the Department Store and the Market. They're the biggest areas, as shown on the pamphlet map, so they're the ones most likely to have something useful.

"I'll open up the Department Store." Malon said. "It's about time that I get new clothes, anyway. Do you know how hard it is to wear a dress 24/7?"

"Fine. I'll take the Market."

"Where can I start to work?" Link asked. Malon pulled up the pamphlet of the complex. "It says you can currently work in the Mines or the Factory."

"I'll choose the mines." Link replied. "If I get enough credits, I'll take a look at the gym and pool."

"Well, that seems to conclude our meeting for today." Zelda summed. Just then, a chime went off from the speakers.

 **Midna Lament, please come to the labs for testing as soon as possible.**

A particular orange-haired girl at a nearby table put her left arm into the air, which was vibrating due to the bracelet calling her to the labs. "STOP VIBRATING!" she shouted. She banged her bangle against the table, urging for it to stop. After watching her for a solid five minutes, the bracelet stopped as two redshirts entered and grabbed her arms. "LET ME GO! I REFUSE!" she shouted. The redshirt on her left pressed a button, zapping Midna again. They dragged the twitching Midna out of the dining hall and towards the labs.

"Well, it looks like things have started." Komali said. "V-Vaati did say we would be summoned for experiments."

"I still don't believe that 'aura' bull. It's just stupid and illogical." Link pouted. "This is unethical."

"Of course it's unethical, we're in a prison after our hometowns were shot up." Malon shouted.

"I don't think they would go this far for some joke or some psychological experiment. They need physical results. Desperately." Zelda replied. "We should be off now. We can't afford to waste more time with this."

Link agreed as he stood up and trotted over to the garbage, and scooped his leftovers in. "We're meeting at six tonight, right?"

"Yeah." Zelda replied.

"Good." Link followed. "I'll see you then."

Link exited the dining hall into the still-boring hallway. Should he go to the mines, or the factory? Would he be better at physical strength, or following instructions? He settled on the mines, which was right next to the dining hall. He stared at the rule placard on the side of the door.

 **Mine Rules**

 **1\. Do not remove equipment from the mines.**

 **2\. No swinging pickaxes other than mining the stone or ores.**

 **3\. For your own safety, bring lanterns once it is too dark.**

 **4\. Only mine sideways. Do not mine upwards or downwards, unless there is ore.**

 **5\. Mines closed at Night Hours and on weekends**

Entering the room, he noticed that the room itself was extremely small. But, the floor opened up into a stone cavern with a ladder on the side closest to the door. Link gripped the sides of the ladder as he slowly descended. Staring down as he descended, he definitely could not see the bottom of the cavern. But, in a few seconds, he noticed dim lantern light. Right where the last rung would be, he felt solid ground. Finally letting go of the ladder, he noticed a chest stocked with mining hats with headlamps, pickaxes, and shovels. There was also another placard similar to the rules one. However, this placard displayed guidelines for mining.

 **Instructions:**

 **\- Use the provided pickaxe, shovel, and other tools to create tunnels.**

 **\- While creating said tunnels, look for ores.**

 **\- Once you have received ores, return here to wash the dirt and stone off, and use the blast furnace to refine it.**

 **\- Place on iron plate below and cover in glass box. The plate will open up, dropping the ores in, and giving you credit.**

 **-Price of eligible ores below per kilogram.**

 **Ores:**

 **Copper - 20 Credits**

 **Tin - 35 Credits**

 **Lead - 40 Credits**

 **Iron - 50 Credits**

 **Titanium - 500 Credits**

 **Silver - 600 Credits**

 **Gold - 1000 Credits**

"Now I know why they went out of their way to spend money and make us comfortable." Link muttered. "It's because they're using our labor to make back the money they lost."

Link sighed. Still, it was his option whether or not to work. But, for a shot to leave this place, he needed to put in his all. Visions of his family, Aryll, his school friends, they all flooded his mind."Let's get down to business." Link picked up a pickaxe, and dramatically grabbed the point with his other hand.

"Ow!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Arc 1: The Aura Complex**

 **Chapter 6: Work and Energy**

* * *

 _ **~Zelda~**_

Zelda finished up her delectable food after Komali and Malon had left for the department store and the market. Wanting to buy her way into the new facilities as fast as possible, Zelda headed straight for the factory. Staring at the map printed on the info pamphlet, she walked directly to the right of the dining hall for a few feet, and then stopped. Ahead of her was the door to the factory, which was represented by a gear-like figure on the door. The rules placard shone brightly on the side of the door.

 **Factory Rules:**

 **1\. No destroying blueprints or taking them out of the factory.**

 **2\. Do not take any equipment out of the factory.**

 **3\. Factory closed on weekends and Night Hours.**

Zelda sighed and walked into the factory, eager to get closer to escaping this facility. Inside was a gigantic room, with maybe around twenty long tables in the middle. The walls were all covered in some sort of sheet metal, while the floor was still solid concrete. In the far back of the room laid several vats of various materials. Walking up to them to observe them, she saw various materials. In them, were several 2x4's, several different types of metal bars, bottles of, once looked at, liquid silicone, rubber tubing, spools of cloth, and two sets of sand. Aside the vats, on the left, laid tools, such as saws, screwdrivers, buckets, wrenches, drills, stone crucibles, hammers, pliers, tape measures, utility knives, bubble measures, protractors, you name it. On the right of the back wall laid several small components, such as nails, bolts, screws, but also had superglue, dyes, and blow torches. Lining the left walls of the room were several machines, including what seemed like an induction furnace, a belt sander, sewing machine, hydraulic press, casting equipment, glass furnace, and some other things that she could not recognize. On the right walls, there was a set of hundreds of what seemed to be lockers. Plastered on the wall right behind her was a set of guidelines.

 **Factory Guidelines:**

 **1\. Pick up a blueprint below. Each blueprint will net a different amount of credits.**

 **2\. Create the components needed to finish the product.**

 **3\. Once the product is complete, place it in one of these lockers and scan your bracelet to lock the door.**

 **4\. Credits will be added to your account once and your product is evaluated.**

 **5\. You may create anything else to your own discretion. However, it will not g** **i** **ve you any credits unless sold to peers at the markets.**

Zelda sighed. This was going to be difficult. Why did the only two credit-making facilities have to be brute strength, or mechanical equipment that would probably get her killed? Either way, this was her better option. She shuffled her hands through the blueprints. There had to be at least twelve varieties, but she looked at the two extremes: the most expensive blueprint and the cheapest blueprint. Looking at the cheapest one, which was twenty credits, she read the instructions. It was a narrow, cylinder-shaped object made out of lead. In front was a rounded tip, and a set of twelve would get her ten credits.

"Wh-" she started. "Is this a bullet?"

Zelda shifted her attention to the next object, which looked like a grenade shell.

"Now I understand." she muttered. "They're just making us make things to fuel their takeover of Hyrule."

But regardless of how much she pouted, deep down, she knew that it wouldn't change anything. It was her choice; either stay in this facility forever guaranteed, or explore the possibilities and do her captor's bidding, at least for now. She knew that, regardless of if they worked or not, the takeover of Hyrule would still continue. It would be foolish to put their faith in prisoners, teenagers, who aren't forced to work to begin with. She sighed once again, and then shuffled through the blueprints. Looking at the most expensive one, which was worth two hundred credits, she noted that it looked like the shell of a missile. Hating the fact that she would be making something that would possibly end up taking millions of lives, she settled on a riot shield at twenty-five credits. She pulled out the blueprints, and made her way towards the table. She stared at her blueprint for the riot shield, and saw that the process was rather simple. She needed to make an alloy of lead and steel, and then pour that onto a curved shield mold. She needed to then sand it down, and place a small pane of glass in the top center.

"This can't be too hard." she said. She stood up and walked towards the vat filled with metal ingots.

* * *

Zelda was standing in front of the induction furnace, after just putting a bunch of lead ingots into a crucible. Standing by, and checking the time on her bracelet, she waited. And waited. And waited. After fifteen solid minutes of waiting, she looked inside of the glass pane on the front of the furnace. The metal ingots were still intact, and nothing had changed at all.

"What is the deal with this thing?" Zelda shouted, growing impatient.

"Y'know, there's an on switch." a voice said, from right behind her. She turned around to be greeted by Malon.

"Oh. Hi." Zelda greeted. "How was the department store?"

"It was huge. Like, huger than huge. Dammit, now i'm getting that thing where you say a word too many times and it stops sounding like a word. Huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, hu-"

"Just get back on track." Zelda demanded, trying to hold back her chuckle. "It seems like you're back in spirit."

"Yeah. I did tell you that I'm more energetic when I'm not depressed. I just figured that my family, regardless if they're still okay or not, wouldn't want me to lose hope. Besides, I'd just be a pushover if I was depressed the entire time. Whatever. So, the department store has literally everything in existence. There's sports equipment, clocks, bed sheets, computers, clothes, pretty much anything that's not at the grocery store."

Zelda opened her mouth, right when the speakers began to blare.

 **Zelda Harkinian. Please come to the labs as soon as possible.**

"Oh, golden goddesses." Zelda said. "Now's my chance to know if that Vaati lunatic was telling the truth. There's a good chance I'm gonna die, or at least get tortured today."

"Have fun!" Malon replied. "Wait, now you know what your last name is!"

Oh yeah. She had amnesia. She totally forgot. Her full name just sounded so natural, that it went right over her head. Harkinian. She kept that as a mental note in the back of her head, as she left the induction furnace.

"Malon, I was in the middle of creating a riot shield. You can complete it if you want."

Malon gave a thumbs' up. "Just get to the labs before they shock you and drag you away."

Remembering what happened to that Twili girl when she refused to leave during her breakfast with Link and Komali, Zelda ran straight for the labs. She exited the factory and ran back to the hallway towards the dorm hall. The only thing past the dorm halls were doors to the laboratory, which were white and had a small window at face-level. Running past, she noted the Twili girl from before running back to the dorm hall, a shocked look on her face. Zelda opened the doors to the labs to see another concrete hallway, with Vaati waiting there along with two redshirts.

"Wow. I was expecting another resistant." Vaati said, rather monotone.

"I saw what happened to her." Zelda replied. "You guys are sick."

"Whatever. Insults aren't against the rules. Just follow my instructions, and we won't hurt you."

Zelda complied and followed Vaati. They stopped at an old elevator, which they descended by. After the old, rustic elevator stopped, the doors opened to reveal a new hall. After rounding a corner, Vaati stepped inside of an unmarked room. Zelda followed, seeing a rectangular room, divided into two halves by a pane of glass. One side was full of equipment and some metal control panels, as well as a bench and a desk full of paper. The opposite side was completely empty. Vaati opened the glass door to the other side of the room, and gestured for Zelda to come in. Once she was in, Vaati locked the glass door. Then, he flicked a lever on the control panel. Hearing some weird noise, she looked down and noted that it was her bracelet. However, it was completely dark. No time was displayed, no blue letters, nothing. Vaati pressed a button as a dummy came up from below the floor. It was covered in colors, similar to a target at an archery field.

"Let's see if anything comes to you." Vaati said, lying back. Zelda stood there, unsure of what to do.

"Zelda, honey, we're testing your powers. Just dig deep inside of you and see what surfaces. The longer it takes, the longer you'll be here."

Zelda tensed her arms and her shoulders. She walked up to the dummy and gave it a smack, right in its face. It fell backwards, but then flung back forwards. Confused, Zelda continued to just stand there, doing absolutely nothing.

"Try this." Vaati said. "Imagine you're throwing a baseball. Maybe a fireball could come out."

Zelda cupped her hands and pretended like she was throwing some sort of baseball. Yet, nothing happened.

"Keep trying. Focus your energy. Once you get it, you get it."

Zelda tried it several more times over the course of fifteen minutes. She gathered all of her energy and attempted to focus it in her right hand. But, absolutely nothing happened.

"Hmm. Maybe you need to be exposed to certain stimuli."

Vaati re-activated Zelda's bracelet and then unlocked the glass door. "Let's go. Follow me."

Zelda followed Vaati out of the room and into another, right across the hall. This room was very similar, except for the fact that it was much larger. Vaati opened the glass barrier as Zelda walked in.

"Out of curiosity, what could the Twili girl do?" Zelda asked.

"That's none of your business." Vaati replied. Zelda shrugged. She watched as Vaati once again powered off her bracelet. "Stand on the red X".

Zelda complied and stood on the red X on the floor, a little bit to the right side of the room. Vaati pressed a button, which caused the floor to open up. The floor collapsed and dropped Zelda into a vat of water. Suprised, Zelda began struggling to breathe. She kicked off her shoes and began swimming upwards, only to see the floor closed back up again. The entire vat of water moved upwards, allowing her to see Vaati. She banged on the top door, to no avail. It was not opening up. Regardless, her survival instincts came in and she continued striking her fist against the trapdoor. She gripped her throat as she slowly felt herself begin to pass out. She struck her fist against the door one last time before she completely lost consciousness.

* * *

Zelda opened her eyes to see the lights of the lab again. Her hair, clothes, and skin were still completely wet, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

"What happened?" she asked. Vaati was still watching her.

"Nothing much. You passed out from oxygen deprivation."

"Why did you do that? That was horrible!"

"Sometimes, powers only activate when you are stressed, or when you're in a certain situation. At least we know you can't breathe water."

 _"Wouldn't that just make me a human Zora?"_ she thought. _"Whatever."_

"It's time to continue." Vaati said. Zelda sighed and stood up from the floor, exhausted from what had just happened to her. She pounded her chest to cough out excess water from her lungs.

"Alright. If you will, please stand on the green circle."

She reluctantly made her way to the green circle, which was on the far right side of the room. She stood atop it, which then also opened up. However, this time, it did not release her into a vat of water. It was just empty, with no bottom in sight. She began to fall, slowly accelerating. The only thing she could do was to scream. She tried to spread out her arms and fly, like a Rito, but nothing happened. She had no wings. She had no flight. She was not a Rito. As she continued descending into the pit of unknown, she hit something. Fortunately for her, it was not the ground. But, it was a pile of soft feathers and cushions.

"This is going to kill me." she sighed. She looked around the pit to see a ladder. Gripping onto the hard metal, she grabbed the bottom rungs and began hoisting herself up for what seemed like days. She eventually reached the top, but ended up exhausted beyond her comprehension.

"Good to see you have the strength to climb up that far." Vaati said. "Next trial."

Vaati hit a button on the control panel to drop a wooden crate onto the ground in front of Zelda. The wall opened up behind it, in a perfect shape for the box to fit in, around two feet off the ground.

"Move the box to the hole." Vaati commanded. Cursing under her breath, she grabbed the crate. Trying as hard as she could to lift it, she absolutely could not. It was almost glued to the ground. She then decided to use her body weight in order to push it to the slot. Tensing her muscles, and leaning all her weight towards the box, she attempted to move it. However, the attempt was absolutely fruitless as she couldn't get further than a foot away.

"Had enough?" Vaati asked. Zelda nodded her head. "Follow me."

Once again, the bracelet de-powered. Vaati opened the door to bring her to the third room, which was almost exactly the same as the last one, minus the shapes on the ground. Vaati re-powered the bracelet as Zelda waited for something to happen. Pressing the button, Vaati snickered. A wall opened up, revealing a man in his early thirties. He had a balding head, and a typical prisoner's outfit. He was the angriest person that Zelda could ever remember, but he was holding a crowbar in his hand.

"What should I do?" Zelda asked. Vaati shrugged and smiled. This prisoner began walking towards her, smacking the crowbar against his other hand. As he approached her, Zelda began to back away. The man only sped up, this time raising his crowbar higher up, above his head, ready to strike. He soon ended up in a full-on sprint. Zelda shreiked and ran around the room, Vaati only watching. Zelda freaked out. The crowbar was big enough to kill her, or at least knock her unconscious if struck on her head. She was already tired from climbing the ladder and pushing the box.

"I'm screwed." Zelda muttered. Running around the room, she avoided this man at all costs in a game of cat-and-mouse. Her heart continued racing as she slowly began to pant from her lack of energy. In due time, she was cornered by her attacker. He slowly advanced on her with a menacing pose, continuing to smack the crowbar against his hand.

"I'm sorry. I have to do this." he said. The expression on his face was genuinely painful. "It's my only chance to leave prison. I want to see my daughter again."

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked, still horrified. "Why are you doing it?"

"That little purple fucktard there is the one who caught me. I never did anything wrong, and I was thrown in jail. It's been a year. He offered me a chance to leave if I were to kill you, right here, right now."

"You don't have to do this." Zelda replied, putting her hands up and shrinking into the corner of the room. "Please. Don't kill me. I'm sorry for everything that happened to you."

The prisoner wiped a tear off his eyelid. "Thanks. I am too." He raised the crowbar on top of his head, poised to strike. In a split second, he heaved the weapon downwards, at an unimaginable speed. Right above Zelda's head. She closed her eyes and braced for impact, knowing this moment was likely to be her last. A sudden jolt of energy went down her spine.

*SMACK* *CLANG-CLANG*

Opening her eyes, she noticed something bewildering. She wasn't dead. The prisoner stood in front of her, gaping at her in surprise, as if she was some kind of celebrity. Fifteen or so iron pieces of a shattered crowbar laid on the floor next to the prisoner, with around half of the broken crowbar still in his hand. But the one thing that seemed to change the most, was the change of scenery. Everything seemed tinted in blue. The concrete floor and walls, the glass, even the prisoner's face. Thinking it was just the lights, Zelda stood up as the prisoner backed into a corner.

"Wh-" he cried. "What is this?"

He dropped the remains of the crowbar with an audible *CLANG*.

Now, fear replaced the sadness in his eyes. His mouth quivered as wrinkles formed on his forehead. "Wh-who are you?"

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked, confused as ever. "Why didn't you kill me?"

"SHUT UP!" he demanded. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

The man backed up as far as he could possibly go, clenching his body against the corner opposite of Zelda. His fingers were gripping the blue-tinted concrete wall as well as the glass wall on the other side. Looking down at her body, she realized that her body and clothes did not have the same shade of blue. She relaxed her body as everything came back to normal color.

"What just happened?" Zelda asked. The prisoner was still shaking in terror, while Vaati seemed to be staring in interest. "Bryce, you failed. Looks like you'll be staying in prison for even longer now."

This 'Bryce' guy nodded, desperate to get away from Zelda. Vaati pressed a red button on his control panel, which caused the wall to open back up. Bryce ran for his life into the wall, while Zelda stared and watched.

"Congratulations, Zelda." Vaati said. "You've discovered your first power."

"..."

"You're not happy?"

"..."

"Whatever. That's enough for today. We'll call you back in later."

"...what is happening to me?" she muttered. She stared at her hands for a bit, but looked straight up at Vaati.

"Didn't we tell you where you are?" Vaati asked. "What I told you the first day? You're an Aura. You've had these powers since birth."

Zelda's eyes gazed back down to her hands, which were trembling in terror. "What did I just do?"

"We'll train your powers so you have a good grasp on it. But for now, you need rest. We'll test you for a secondary ability next time."

Vaati activated Zelda's bracelet and opened the door. However, Zelda didn't budge. Instead of leaving, she crawled into the corner and balled up her body.

"Don't be like that. If you're not out of here by the time the next person arrives, we'll have to order the redshirts to bring you out."

Still feeling amazed and shocked, Zelda stood up, mouth still gaping. Vaati forcefully pulled Zelda out of the lab and onto the lift. Once they reached the top, Vaati shoved Zelda out of the white doors, and into the hallway in front of the dorm halls. Still wet from the random dunk tank that they seemingly used to torture her, she stood up and brushed herself off.

"Oh, and one more thing." Vaati sneered, right in the laboratory doorway. "Don't think we can't hear you discussing escape plans. There's no rules that state you can't discuss them, but we will take precautions to prevent you from pulling them off."

With that, Vaati turned around and vanished into the depths of the lab doors.

* * *

Returning to her room, she grumbled about how much she hated the facility. How could she not? But, that experiment really pushed her over the edge. Was she going insane? Is she really some kind of superhero? Maybe that was just an illusion that Vaati wanted to get a reaction to? But no. Deep inside her, she knew that everything she experienced was real. Although she couldn't deny that it was amazing, and very useful in the future, that somehow, she knew that it wouldn't bode well for her, regardless of whether they escaped or not. Those 'powers' got her into this mess. There's no doubt they would wreak more havoc for her. Fingering her damp, tousled hair, she scanned her bracelet on her room door to see it empty, no equipment or Malon in sight. Everything was exactly the same as the first time that she had entered, despite the messed-up bed sheets. Figuring that she was dry enough, Zelda lied down on her bed and closed her eyes in fear of what would come.


	7. Chapter 7

**Arc 1: The Aura Complex**

 **Chapter 7: Icebreaker**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

One week. It had been a week since Link entered the facility.

Despite the condition that they were in, Link had grown somewhat adapted to the new life of the Aura Complex. Despite finding nothing new, Link, Komali, Zelda, and Malon still met up at the dining hall every morning and dinner. Although, after Zelda's call into the lab (which she refused to elaborate on), she had told them to not talk about escape plans and to find a better location later. As of now, the meeting was just to discuss the different areas that were opening up, and anything interesting that they found. Nothing too suspicious, and nothing that may impede their progress of escape. Besides the meetings, life has gotten progressively better in the complex. Link worked in the mines virtually every day, and the ground was rich with ores and metals that would grant him good amounts of credits. The income of the mines has been good enough that he was able to enter the gym as well as the department store. Both areas were great, even beyond Link's expectations.

The gym was what you'd expect in a typical workplace or college. There were barbells, bench presses, treadmills, yoga balls, deadlift weights, etc. There were also a few other things, such as rock climbing, However, this space was significantly larger than what you'd typically expect, so that was bonus. There were also several water dispensers lining the sides, as well as complimentary sports drinks and headphones. They also had complimentary music pods. On the right side of the gym, was the pool area. The pool was 50 meters, the size of an Olympic one. Bleachers lined the sides, facing right towards the pool. It was divided into twelve lanes, although the only people who really wanted to use it were Zoras. There were also two locker rooms on the side. These locker rooms also contained showers, towels, bathrooms, and, of course, lockers.

The department store was, by far, the largest area that Link had seen in the facility. Although Zelda had told them to unlock new areas, Link couldn't help but take a look at this department store that supposedly had almost everything in the world. Malon was right in her explanation. Room-wise, it was as wide and long as the auditorium, which was pretty damn big. But, it also went up four stories. There was everything: tools, clothes, shoes, toys, electronics, pretty much anything that you could name, except, he took note, of anything that could be used as a weapon. With this, he bought some new clothes. He currently substituted his green long-sleeve shirt and green sweatshirt in favor for a blue short-sleeve with some kind of sword pattern in the middle. Despite green being his favorite color, this one just called for him.

Currently, it was 1 PM, and Link was sitting at his desk in his room. Apparently, it was a Saturday, which meant both the mines and factory were closed and it was impossible to earn any credits, unless he went through the market to sell things to other 'citizens' (although he didn't even have enough credits to enter the market in the first place). Over the last week, Link and Komali's dorm had gone through a drastic change. They had agreed on an invisible line through the center of the room, in which Komali would get his side and Link would get his own. They would be able to do anything to their side of the room without complaints. Link happened to change his bedsheets to a green leaf-patterned set, while Komali's were solid grey and white. On Link's side, he had a few things. he had placed a beanbag chair on his side of the room, between his bed and his desk. His nightstand had an alarm clock as well as a nightlight for reading or other things. On Link's desk laid a single computer as well as a few pieces of food trash. Komali's side was way neater. He did not invest in any extra furniture, but he did have a typewriter on his desk (why, Link had no idea) as well as several books. There was also a landline phone on his table.

The networks of the facility were limited. Link couldn't deny that the moment that he bought a computer, he tried to reach the outside world. But, he realized that what and who he could contact was restricted to the facility itself. There were several websites that he believed Vaati or other staff members of the facility had made, such as a search engine, social media page, forum, encyclopedia (with a seemingly restricted set of articles), and a website about the facility. On this site, there was information such as the current rooms available, basic information that was on the pamphlet, and a place where people could ask questions or submit suggestions. There were also a few video games pre-programmed into the computer, but it was simple games such as Minesweeper and Pong.

The phone was another story. The moment Komali brought it in, Link instantly tried to dial home. He wanted to hear the voice of his parents, or Aryll, or anybody familiar. But, the moment Link punched in the number and put the phone to his ear, he was greeted by an automated message.

 _ **Please dial the number of the room you would like to call.**_

After that, Komali had to explain to him that you could only call other rooms with landlines, and he had bought it for the sole purpose of communicating with Malon and Zelda. His excitement went down after that, once again feeling rather hopeless.

Link was sitting in his swivel chair, although it was pulled back a bit. He was leaning back with his feet on the desk. In his left hand was a cup of tea, while his right hand held a pamphlet. From what he could gather, this new pamphlet acted as a newspaper of sorts. It had things such as weekly announcements, possible new additions or rule changes to the facility, anyone who got thrown in solitary and why, and things that other 'citizens' would want to say to the rest of them. Reading it, there wasn't much printed. The only things that it had right now was a list of the current solitary prisoners (there were two, a Zora boy and a Gerudo girl, none of which Link recognized) as well as a new announcement that he was on his way to read.

 ** _Is your dorm too small? Do you want some extra room? Well, sign up on our website to increase your dorm space! It will cost 1500 credits per expansion, up to a limit of four! Each expansion will take three days, but you will not be allowed into your room during that time._**

 ** _Expansion 1: Gives you five extra meters of space in the back of your room._**

 ** _Expansion 2: Gives you five extra meters on each side of the room._**

 ** _Expansion 3: Gives you upwards expansion and a loft._**

 ** _Expansion 4: Gives you downwards expansion and a basement._**

Link put down the pamphlet and looked around the room. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't unlivably small either. Thinking for a second, Link checked out the dimensions of the room. Staring straight up, Link just couldn't imagine building a loft, as the room raised only around ten feet up. He poked his head out of the doorway to notice that there was a significant gap between the left and right walls and the next dorm. It was definitely enough to have an expansion. But, despite how comfortable the expansion may be, how big their dorm may be, he needed to focus on opening new areas and possibilities to escape this place. Eventually, he got bored of sitting down doing nothing, and stood up to explore the place. But, while he was walking aimlessly, barely avoiding passerby, his thoughts all went to the same place. Zelda.

Zelda just seemed too shrouded in mystery. Sure, she was nice, and beautiful, but Link couldn't get past the fact that she seemed more... interesting than Malon or even Komali. He just wanted to know more about her, but he currently had no way of locating her at the moment. He had met up with her several times, and he had asked her about herself, but she always somehow shrugged off the question, or diverted attention. Ever since she had been called to the lab, she had refused to talk about her experience there either. In the week that they had been here, three people had been called into the labs per day. Zelda was the second, but no one in their group had been called in there since. Due to her lack of reaction and refusal to elaborate, Link didn't know what to expect when it was his turn. He reminisced on what Vaati had said on their first day, now a distant memory.

 _"That gene causes strange... abilities that are beyond our understanding. People with these abilities, we have named Auras. We intend to study your abilities, which is why you're here."_

That's the reason that they were called into the labs into the first place. It was possible that Zelda had discovered her first power.

...

What was he thinking? Powers? That was impossible. Maybe... they just abused her.

...

 _I just don't know,_ he thought. _I won't know until I hear it directly from her._

Link's pace developed into a sense of urgency as he shifted from a stroll, to a jog, to a run. He dodged other 'citizens' like an ambulance avoiding traffic. Thinking about places where she could be, he did a quick U-turn and headed towards Dormitory Hall B. He blasted open the doors and dodged several women making their way into and out of the dorm rooms, giving him shocked looks. He wasn't paying enough attention, and then ran straight into some Gerudo girl.

"Watch it, _voe_!"

He quickly apologized and stood up. He stuck his hand out, but she refused and stood up herself. He ignored this girl and then continued searching for Zelda. Then it dawned on him. He didn't get her room number. Looking at the crowd of women, he noticed a redhead in it.

 _Malon,_ he thought. He ran up to her and poked her on her shoulder.

"Oh. Link? What're you doing here?"

"Where's Zelda?"

"She should be in our room..." She replied. "Is this an emergency?"

"I just need to ask her something."

"Can't you wait until dinnertime?"

"No. It's quite important."

"Why didn't you just use the phone?" Malon questioned. "That's the reason why Komali bought it..."

Link wiped his face. "I don't know your room number. I needed to input the room number to talk to someone."

Malon looked towards a dorm room. "That makes sense. I'll bring you in."

Malon led Link through the crowd across the red carpet, like a man walking behind a snowplow. She led him further towards the entrance to room 7-B. She quickly swiped her bracelet across the scanner and opened the door to let Link through.

Malon and Zelda's room was drastically different than Link and Komali's. The right side of the room had almost no changes to what Link's dorm looked like. There was nothing on the desk, and no extra furniture on the floor. Even the bed retained the original white sheets. The left side was extremely different than the right. The bed was straight-up red, sheets, pillows, and blanket, quite messed up. The desk was rather messy, covered with garbage, but there was a computer and a laptop there. There was also a wooden treasure chest on that side of the room.

Meanwhile, there was a figure on the white bed, reading a book.

"Link?" Zelda asked. She lifted up her head. "What're you doing here?"

"I wanted to ask you something."

Malon stood by the door, gripping the handle. "I'll leave you two to your couples' talk."

"We're no-" Link protested, but it was futile as Malon ran from the room. He turned to Zelda, both blushing.

"So, uhh..." Zelda began. "What'd you want to ask me?"

"I wanted to ask you about your time in the lab."

"That was a week ago, Link. It's not relevant anymore."

"I want to know more about it. You're the only one that has gone so far."

"Why don't you just wait until it's your turn?" Zelda asked, rather aggressively.

Link was taken aback at the sudden change in tone. "It's ju-"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Zelda, that's exactly why I'm asking this."

"...?"

Link sighed, placing his hand on his forehead. "The fact that you don't want to talk about it is what's making me so concerned. What really happened?"

Zelda was quiet for a while. "Fine. I'll tell you."

Link adjusted his position, now sitting partially on Malon's bed, anticipating the story that was about to spur from her mouth.

"After I was called into the labs, Vaati powered down my bracelet. When I wasn't able to do anything, he put me in a new room, drowned me, and dropped me from fifty feet up. The last thing that they did was bring out this person, who would kill me if I didn't use my powers to defend myself. But, that's when it happened. I felt a tug in my gut, and a tension in my right hand, and projected a shield. This person's reaction, who didn't seem to work for the facility, was horror. He was scared, creeped out, frightened and confused. Then it dawned on me. If what had just happened was real, and if I were released out into the real world, what would become of me?"

"What do you mean?" Link asked.

"Say that I'm on the streets. Some thug comes and tries to kill me. I project a shield to defend myself, but people see. I'll end up being ostracized, excluded from the community because of what I can do. I won't make friends. What do I choose? An enclosed life where we fit in, or a free life where we're excluded and targeted?"

Link pondered for a second. "You won't be excluded. Because you have us. We'll come with you."

"You don't understand. Don't you all have families to go back to? Other loved ones to attend to?"

"So? Your family won't reject you for that shield thing. They love you, right?"

Zelda stayed silent after that question was asked. Link emotionally recoiled. Did he hit a rough spot? Were her parents neglectful?

"Right?"

"..."

That was it for Zelda. Teardrops began to roll down her cheeks like waterfalls.

"It-t's" she stammered.

"It's alright." Link replied. He stood up and walked over to sit on Zelda's bed. "If your parents were that bad, you can come stay with me, or Malon, or Komali."

"I-it's not that."

"...?"

"It's not that I don't want to return home, it's just that... I have no home to go to."

"What do you mean?"

Zelda scrunched her eyes and looked away. "I should've told you this a long time ago, the first time we met. I'm an amnesiac."

 _What? Amnesiac?_ Link thought. "You mean, that you can't remember? Remember what?"

"Anything. Anything before I arrived."

Link inched closer to her to pat her on her back. But then, she hugged Link and buried her face into his chest.

"Zelda." he breathed. "There's nothing I can do now. But, I swear, when we escape this place, we will help you to the best of our ability. That's a promise."

She sniffled and looked up with wet eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Just then, the doorknob twisted, introducing Malon.

"Are you two lovers done- Link, what did you do?"

"Don't blame him," Zelda sniffed. "You should get back to your dorm now."

Link peeled Zelda off of him and then stood up.

"See you later, Zelda." Link said over his shoulder. He walked off and out of the girls dormitory through the back entrance, into the lounge. He sat on one of the soft, comfortable lounge chairs. He checked his bracelet, which had both the time, 1:45, and his current amount of credits, 539.

"I guess it won't hurt if I go look at a new area." he mumbled to himself, immediately standing up from the chair. He pulled out the original pamphlet from his pocket and stared at it. The things that he had left were the Buffet, Market, Sports Field, and the Library.

"I'll check the market." he said to himself. Looking at the map, he guided himself towards the Market. Once he stopped in front of it, he stared at the door. The door looked like a typical shop door, with an awning on top. However, there was a window on this door. He bent over to peer through it, which showed the market.

This was, by far, the biggest area in the Aura Complex. From what he could see, a room the size of the auditorium was visible. However, he also noticed it rounded a corner in the far end of the room. The ceiling was high enough and brightly lit, so it actually felt like an open space. Lining the walls were several stands and tents, all brightly colored. Most of them were empty, but a few had people standing behind it with merchandise. He backed up a bit to look at the rule placard.

 **Market Rules**

 **1\. Closed at Night Hours**

 **2\. No selling weapons**

 **3\. No stealing**

Link shivered. There were only a few people inside of the market, and almost no one seemed to be selling anything. Was it really worth it to unlock it now? He stared at the amount of credits on his bracelet, and then looked back at the door. He decided on waiting and walked away.

Returning to his dorm, he noticed Komali was back, writing something on his typewriter.

"Oh. You're back." he replied. "What's up?"

"Well... Zelda's an amnesiac."

"What?"

"ZELDA'S AN AMNESIAC."

"...Huh. Really? I didn't think significant memory loss was a real thing. How much can she remember?"

"She said that she couldn't remember anything before she arrived here."

"How much did you ask her?"

"Not much. I decided to leave seeing as it was hard for her to talk about it. She started crying!"

Komali rubbed the top of his beak. "I would expect that. I don't even know what I would do if I were to lose my entire past."

"Don't worry. We won't lose our memory. Hopefully."

* * *

 **A/N: I originally posted the rules of the first Aura Complex competition here, and the four were going to compete. But, I noticed that I was rushing things quite a bit, and wanted to get each person's experiences in the lab before they begin. (You'll see why in a few chapters.) Also, I'm not sure about that whole competition thing, and might choose to change it in the future to be more realistic or something like that. Also, from now on, you may see some Malon/Komali-based chapters. They won't be as frequent as the Link/Zelda chapters, but they'll be there when necessary. So, yeah. Thanks for reading.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Arc 1: The Aura Complex**

 **Chapter 8: Brawl**

* * *

 ** _~Zelda~_**

"Are you alright?" Malon asked. She patted Zelda on the back.

Zelda sniffled. "I-i'm fine. There's nothing I can do about it now."

She shooed Malon off her bed and lied down in despair. "Maybe it is best if we stay in here."

Malon stared at her with a blank face. "Are you crazy? This is prison. Why would you want to stay in here? Do you have Stockholm Syndrome?"

Zelda sighed. "Well, if what you said was true, there's a civil war going on outside. What's to say it's not a huge bloodbath that will get us all killed?"

Malon rubbed her eyes and then sat on her bed. "That- you're not wrong. But, still, I want to go home. I want to see the sun again. I want to see my friends again."

"But for me... there's nothing. No friends, no family, no home."

"We'll restore it. I'm sure there are experts and other people out there that are special at this kind of thing. If not, you can just stay with me! My dad is really inviting."

"You really think so?"

"I'm completely sure."

Zelda stood up, walked over to Malon, and trapped her in a huge bear hug. Malon, who seemingly didn't know what to do, stroked the back of Zelda's hair.

"It's going to be alright." Malon said.

"..."

* * *

Zelda and Malon spent hours in the room, just waiting until their daily dinner meeting with Link and Komali. Throughout that time, Malon was sitting at her desk drawing something which Zelda couldn't seem to make out, faintly humming a song that, even if Zelda had heard it before, she wouldn't know what it was. Meanwhile, Zelda was invested in her book. She had purchased one from the department store (The department store had, like, everything in living existence.) yesterday and was already around halfway through. This was a historical book, the same one that she had picked up the first day in the library. The Hyrulean-Labrynnan war. She didn't realize why she was so interested in history and war, she couldn't explain it, but that was how things were.

Malon put down her pencil and spun around on her swivel chair. "It's around time for our dinner meeting. We should go now."

Zelda dropped her book and checked her bracelet on her right arm. It read 5:40. "Yeah. We should go."

As she sat up, it was just then that she noticed that Malon had ditched her normal dress for a loose-fitting blouse and jeans.

"When did you get that?"

"Get what?"

"Those clothes?"

"This morning."

"Oh. They look nice."

"Thank you! It's so much easier to walk around in these clothes than in that dress."

Zelda waited for Malon to kick on her sneakers before walking out the door towards the dining hall.

When they arrived, there was once again a long line for the food. And, Zelda knew why. Despite the complex basically being a furnished prison, the dining hall food was delicious. If the dining hall food was good, though, she wondered how good the buffet and restaurant food was, and instantly wanted to try them.

 _Come on, Zelda. Now's not the time to be pigging out._ she thought to herself. She followed Malon's suit and stood in line for their food, glancing up towards the menu on the wall.

"What do you think I should get?" Malon asked. Zelda continued to read the menu.

 **Today's Dinner Menu**

 **Entrees: Spaghetti and Cuckoo Meatballs, Sloppy Joe, Fried Cuckoo Leg, Tofu Caesar Salad**

 **Sides (Choose 1): French Fries, Deviled Eggs, Cheese Platter**

 **Dessert: Rhubarb Pie, Red Velvet Cake**

"Why are you asking me? It's your food."

Malon shrugged while Zelda settled on the spaghetti, cheese, and cake. She ordered it as Malon was ordering a sloppy joe. While they were on their way to an open table, they were stopped by some muscular guy with a weird hairdo who got in their way.

"Hey." he said, staring directly at Zelda.

"Can I help you?" Zelda replied.

"I just wanted to tell you that you're really gorgeous."

"Thank... you?" Zelda said-asked. "If you'll excuse us, we're on our way to our table."

This guy gripped Zelda's right arm and somewhat creepily whispered in her ear. "I'm Groose. Nice to meetcha'."

Groose? What kind of name was that?

Malon was standing back, appalled by what this guy was doing.

"Uhh..." Malon started. "That's not exactly how you get girls, _Groose._ You're just being creepy."

"Zip it, Red. Was I talking to you?"

Malon weaved around Groose, who still had his grip on Zelda, and placed her food on the table. Then, she just started eating, while watching the confrontation of Groose and Zelda.

 _Malon, you flaker!_

Zelda tried to push past Groose, but he tightened his grip. "Whaddaya' say that we get out of here tomorrow?"

"D-do you mean out of the facility?" Zelda asked.

"No, I mean, like, I have enough credits for the restaurant."

"Sorry, man, but I'm not interested. Now, I would appreciate it if you let me go."

"I know you want me." Groose teased. Zelda struggled, but Groose held his hand on her arm.

"HEY!"

Groose and Zelda turned to see Link marching up to them, along with Komali, who was watching from afar.

"What's happening here?" Link furiously asked.

"None of your business. Now, go hit the gym, you skinny brat."

"He's trying to force me to go out with him without my consent."

"Let her go." Link demanded. "Let her go now."

"What're you gonna do about it, punk?" Groose replied. Link whipped the plastic tray from under his fried Cuckoo and smacked Groose with it. He recoiled for a bit, but nothing excessive happened. He let go of Zelda, shoving her towards the table. Zelda lost her footing and tripped, dropping her spaghetti and getting the sauce all over her one outfit.

"Oh, that is it!" Link shouted. He dropped the tray and swung a ceramic mug straight at Groose's face, which shattered, forcing Groose to the ground. He slowly stood back up, hands at the point of impact.

"You're dead, bitch."

All eyes were on the two brawling in the middle of the dining hall. Groose gripped Link's neck, slowly choking him. He smacked Link's head against the table four times before Link fought back. He struggled to get out of Groose's grip, and then used his spaghetti bowl to smack Groose in the scalp.

Meanwhile, Zelda noticed that Komali was standing back in horror and Malon was continuing to eat her food in this chaos.

"LINK! STOP!" Zelda shouted.

Groose stood up once again, wiping blood off his scalp. "Here's your one trip ticket to hell."

He ran up to Link and performed an uppercut that connected with his chin. Link collapsed backwards, destroying a table and the dinners of the six people sitting on it. Zelda ran up to Link, trying to get him to stop fighting.

"Just leave. Go get changed" Link demanded.

Link caught a punch from Groose and then pushed him onto the table that Malon was on, destroying her sloppy joe.

"dammit." She said. Komali continued to watch the fight worriedly. Now, a crowd gathered in a giant ring around Link and Groose. Link socked Groose in the gut, who groaned and clutched his midsection. In response, Groose picked up Malon's plate and smacked Link in the face with it.

"LINK! JUST STOP FIGHT-"

*BZZT* *BZZT*

Groose collapsed as his bracelet shocked him. Link was twitching on the ground, in a similar motion. A couple of redshirts came in to drag Link and Groose away.

"What are you guys doing?" Zelda asked.

"They broke the rules." the first soldier replied. "No intense violence. They're going to solitary."

"What?" Malon shouted. She stopped eating and ran up to them. "Groose is the one who started it!"

"Yeah!" Komali shouted, approaching them. "That guy's to blame!"

"Think about it. Was Groose initially breaking the rules?" The soldier asked.

"He pushed me to the ground..." Zelda replied.

"But, that is not intense violence. Intense violence started once Link here hit him with the tray. So, Link started it."

Zelda looked at Link, who was knocked out and bleeding from his mouth.

"They can appeal to Vaati later, and try to see if they can lessen their punishments. That's the best outcome, so you just sit tight."

With that, the redshirts dragged both Link and Vaati out of the dining hall, much to the horror of Zelda, Malon, and Komali. Both Malon and Komali turned to Zelda.

"Are you okay?" Malon asked.

"Did you get hurt?" Komali inquired.

Zelda brushed herself off and looked at the spaghetti stains on her outfit. "I'm alright. I'm just worried about Link. I don't know what's going to happen to him."

"He'll probably be fine. Solitary can't be that bad." Malon said.

"But solitary... for how long?" Komali asked. No one could come up with an answer.

"He'll be out eventually. Hopefully, he can explain what happened and get out without the solitary. But for now, we can't do anything or we'll get in trouble too." Malon said.

"So, Z-Zelda," Komali stammered. "What happened?"

"Nothing much. That redhead just tried to hit on me, and tried to get me to go out with him even when I said no."

"Malon?" Komali asked.

"No! The guy Link was fighting!" Malon retaliated.

"Oh.

"Zelda, why don't you go get changed?" Komali asked.

Zelda looked down at her top. "I don't have any other outfits."

"You can just wear my dress." Malon replied.

"Are you sure?" Zelda asked.

"Yeah. I won't mind."

* * *

Zelda quickly realized that she and Malon had very different body types. Malon was a few inches shorter than her, so the dress on Zelda looked a little odd with it being cut a bit short just under her knee. She had some trouble getting Malon's dress on, and it was very tight for her. But, after a few minutes of struggling and trying not to rip the dress, Zelda got it on and decided to just throw her old clothes in the washing machines in the laundry room. But, as she was leaving the room, her stomach growled in starvation. She never got to eat that spaghetti, and she was ravenous. Thinking about the possibilities, she decided that it would be more cost-efficient to buy food from the grocery store and cook it in the kitchen, rather than buy a second meal from the dining hall. Walking to the grocery store, she bumped into both Malon and Komali.

"Did you two get to eat your dinner?" Zelda asked.

"I only ate a little bit." Malon replied. "Before Link and Groose destroyed it. I'm still quite hungry."

"I dropped my food after watching the initial fight." Komali responded.

"I'm going to try to cook something. It'd cost less than each of us buying food from the dining hall again, right?"

"Sure. It's about time to showcase your full cooking ability, Zelda." Malon said. Zelda laughed. "We'll see, Malon. We'll see."

* * *

Zelda walked up to the kitchen, groceries in hand, with Komali and Malon following like ducklings following their mother. They had no idea what Zelda was going to cook, and they had no idea if Zelda was a good chef. But, they decided that they'd try it.

Before entering the kitchen, Zelda read the rules on the side of the doorway, as she's never been in here before.

 **Kitchen Rules**

 **1\. Clean up after yourself once you're finished.**

 **2\. There are three garbage bins; Compost, Recycle and Landfill. Please use each bin correctly.**

 **3\. Do not take kitchen equipment such as pans, pots, knives, dishes, or utensils, out of the kitchen.**

 **4\. Please use to-go boxes, containers, and bowls to take food out of the kitchen.**

Eh, reasonable enough. Zelda opened the door to see the kitchen for the first time. It was a rather small room, divided into two sections; a kitchen section and a dining section. The dining section looked like the dining hall, but the kitchen section had three marble countertops with kitchen equipment on it. Malon and Komali sat in the dining section as Zelda began whipping up her meal. She laid out her ingredients on the middle counter and began work. First, she laid out a pan, coated in sesame oil. She then fried a slab of pork belly onto the oil-slathered pan, and sprinkled salt and crushed garlic on top of it. She flipped it over a few times, shook the pan, and placed it onto a plate. She used a knife to slice up the pork belly into three portions, equal enough to feed her, Malon, and Komali. She divided the pork belly onto two other plates, and served it to Malon and Komali, then bringing out her own plate.

"I want you two to try it first." Zelda said, excited. Komali sliced into his meat first, followed by Malon. They ate it around the same time.

"What do you think?" Zelda asked.

"Well, Zelda," Malon started. "Normally, I'd be like, 'It's alright, you just need to improve a bit. But, I can't even with this."

Malon cut another slice, which was all charred and black, and showed it to Zelda. "It's burnt. Like, really really burnt. I'm going to get cancer if I continue eating this."

Zelda's cheery expression dropped. "Komali, it wasn't that bad, right?"

Komali poked at his food. "Zelda... how do I put this... It takes talent..."

Zelda listened in anticipation, with a smile on her face.

"To screw up this badly."

The smile vanished as quickly as it appeared. "What's wrong now? This part isn't burnt!"

"You're right, it-it isn't burnt." Komali stuttered. "Q-quite the opposite, really. It's cold and raw in the middle. I-I'm going to get sick. How do you even manage to burn half of the food, and then n-not cook the other half?"

Zelda shrugged, hurt by their comments.

"Zelda, sorry that I was so aggressive, I'm normally not like that, but I am just amazed by how much you suck at cooking." Komali said. Hurt, Zelda cut into her own slab of pork to see that half of it was raw, and the other half was burnt. There was no smooth transition, either. It was black, then immediately switched to pink. Malon and Komali were watching.

Malon rubbed her eyes. "What the heck? Did you have, like, half of the meat hanging off the side of the pan?"

Zelda shook her head.

"Well, we can both agree that we will never let Zelda cook for us again." Malon said.

"Definitely."

"Okay, can I change the subject!" Zelda shouted. "It's about Link and Groose."

"W-what about them?" Komali asked.

"Aren't they both in solitary?" Malon questioned.

"They should be, but the problem is when they get out." Zelda said. "Groose will probably have it out for Link's blood, and they'll become bitter rivals. That's not a thing we want, especially in a place with little escape as this."

Malon and Komali nodded. "You're right." Komali said. "They're going to kill each other."

"Not to mention, Groose has it out for you too." Malon teased. Zelda rolled her eyes. "Groose... This could've been avoided if Groose had just understood what 'NO' means."

"Link's not completely innocent either." Malon said. "He's the one who hit Groose in the first place."

"You're right. I'm going to punish him myself once he gets out of solitary." Zelda replied, with a devious smile.

"H-how're you going to do that?" Komali asked, backing away in nervousness.

"I'm going to make him eat my cooking."

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, so I added the 'cooking' part at the end as filler. It's not significant at all, but there was nothing that I really needed to expand on Zelda's point of view after the Link-Groose fight, and I didn't want to end this chapter with it so short. So, I added in some fun stuff that i felt like writing to expand the length, and I don't blame you if you skipped it. Link's next chapter will be extremely important.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Arc 1: The Aura Complex**

 **Chapter 9: Chaos and Control**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

Link and the Groose were dragged through the labs, and into a new part of the complex that he had never seen before. The redshirts dragged them into what looked like a typical office, onto chairs, and strapped them on with cuffs similar to the ones that they were in the first day of the facility.

"Go to hell, kid." Groose said, still bleeding heavily.

"You first." Link replied. Groose struggled in his chair, trying to break out of the cuffs.

"Stop struggling. It's pointless."

Link knew that voice. He knew it well, despite the only time he ever heard it was a week ago, in the opening ceremony. Vaati, the purple man himself, walked into the office and took his spot in the desk chair.

"Hello. It has come to my attention that a brawl has broken out in the dining hall. Between you two."

Link and Groose both did absolutely nothing but stare at Vaati.

"I want you to explain to me what happened in the dining hall, and I will pass your sentences accordingly. You first." Vaati saidt, pointing at Groose.

"This kid smacked me in the head with a tray." Groose said, trying to sound victimized. "I caught it, but then he started whacking me with mugs and bowls. Please don't put me in solitary."

"And, you."

Link recollected his memories of the event that took place less than five minutes ago. "This guy was bullying one of my friends. He was trying to get her to go out with him, and she said no. He kept bullying her and harassing her, who was already quite depressed, and I couldn't just stand away. He shoved her to the ground, and I had to do something."

"Hmm..." Vaati trailed. "So... Groose, you feel that you're the victim."

"Yes. That's exactly right." The fake misery tone in Groose's voice made him want to puke.

"And... Link, you feel that you were justified in which you were protecting one of your friends from harassment?"

"That's correct." Link replied.

"Hmm... We can't have you disrupting the peace and harmony of this facility, regardless of what's happened. So... you're both sentenced to solitary. Two days each."

The redshirts ordered Link and Groose to stand up and brought them to their respective solitary cells, in another wing of the complex that he hasn't seen before. The redshirts threw Groose into his cell and closed the door. Meanwhile, they threw Link into the next cell.

Link fell on the ground of the place he would spend the next two days. Standing up, he noticed a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, emitting a dim light with no seeable way to turn it off. To his left was a firm bed, one that would definitely make his joints and back hurt. To his right was a nasty toilet, urinal, and sink, similar to a nasty gas-station quality. In the wall directly in front of him was an electric timer, counting down the time he had left in his sentence.

That's it. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all dull concrete, and were giving off a murder dungeon vibe. Despite the creepy atmosphere, this wouldn't be too bad.

* * *

Link washed his hands. And washed them again. And again.

Normally, Link wasn't that much of a clean freak. His room back home was messy, littered with paperwork from school, books, and dirty clothes. But, in this solitary cell, there was absolutely nothing to do. It would slowly drive him insane if he were to do absolutely nothing. He continued to wash his hands for an hour straight, up until his hands began to feel numb. He shook his hands dry, as there were no towels or dryers, and rubbed them on his shirt. Now, he was just alone with himself, and his own thoughts. He paced around the fifteen feet that he had in the cell as he began to think about the outside world.

When Link had entered the facility, there was a civil war occurring, and he was caught in one of the first acts of the war.

* * *

*BANG BANG BANG*

Link was lying on his bed when he was awakened by the sound of banging metal. Was his sentence over? He turned to the clock. He had around three hours left of his sentence. If his sentence wasn't over, who was banging on the door and why?

His questions were answered as the door opened, to reveal Vaati. "Are you awake?" He asked. Link nodded, hopeful that he would be able to leave the cell.

"It's your time in the lab. We'll let you out afterwards."

Link sighed. He already knew that he wouldn't like the labs, but it would be an advantage from solitary for another three hours.

"Follow me." Vaati said. Link cautiously followed Vaati around several corners and into a doorway to the labs, and led him to the first testing room.

"What do I do?" Link asked.

"Stand behind the glass and we'll start experiments."

Link complied and entered the door behind the glass. Vaati, standing with two redshirts, stood at a control panel. Vaati pressed a button, making a black dummy appear around ten feet away from him.

"Now. See if anything comes up." Vaati said. Link was at a complete loss of what to do.

"What do I do?" Link asked.

"Try imagining yourself throwing a baseball. Try to channel all of your energy into the space above your palm."

Link contorted his hand in a way he would hold a baseball, and tried to tense his arm. Yet, nothing happened. He threw his arm, but nothing came out. He tried again, but absolutely nothing happened.

"Hmm..." Vaati started. "It's alright if you can't unlock your power at the moment. Just follow us through everything."

Link tried balling up his energy and throwing it, several more times. But, to no avail. Nothing formed. Nothing came to him. And, nothing tugged his gut. He was absolutely at a loss as for what Vaati wanted him to do.

"Nothing's happening." Link complained.

"Don't worry." Vaati replied. "It takes time."

Link continued for a solid ten minutes, yet it was fruitless.

"We'll move onto the next test." Vaati informed. Link put his hands down and followed Vaati. He entered the room that Zelda had described from her experiences in the lab, with the red X and the green circle on the floor.

Link gulped. Vaati directed him to the green circle, which subsequently dropped him into the vat of water. He banged on the top of the vat, hoping to finally unlock his powers and end this session of the labs. Yet, nothing happened. Link slowly felt himself start to asphyxiate as he collapsed to the bottom of the tank. Before he lost consciousness, he heard a few splashes as a couple of redshirts came in and grabbed him. As he was on the border between consciousness and unconsciousness, he finally entered the air as he felt palms on his chest, pushing in. He coughed out the water in his lungs, as it ran down his cheek.

"That absoultely sucked." Link complained. Vaati sighed.

"It had to be done."

As Link wiped his long, dirty blonde hair out of his face, Vaati instructed him to stand on the X. Link complied, knowing full well that he was going to be launched into the pit. As the trapdoor opened, Link tried as much as he could to desperately fly or do something. But, he felt the impact of the pillows at the bottom, and then pulled himself up the ladder with his sore arms. Link knew, that following Zelda's step-by-step account of what happened (on the phone after their initial talk), that the heavy box test would be coming up next. However, instead, Vaati ordered Link to leave the testing room. Link followed, confused as of what was supposed to come next. This time, Link was led into a round, chrome-colored room with nothing but a single surgical chair in the center. He breathed in anticipation.

"Don't worry. We won't be cutting you open."

Link sighed in relief that he won't be getting surgery.

"Just sit on the chair and put on the helmet." Vaati ordered. Link complied and sat in the chair. This chair was rather comfortable, the padding comforting his pressure points. He gripped the menacing helmet and lowered it onto his head, obstructing his vision. With that, he heard the squeaking of what sounded like carts or something with wheels.

"What are you doing?" Link questioned.

"We can't tell you or else it'll mess things up." Redshirt 1 said. Link, now scared of what was to come, leaned back in his chair in anticipation. He winced in pain for a bit as he felt needles inject into the fronts of his elbows as well as the sides of his ribcage and his neck. With that, he heard footsteps running away from him, and then the bright light of the testing room turn off. He lied on the chair, with the pain of the needles still inside of him still subsiding. He just sat there in anticipation, as he felt his eyelids get heavy. His brain couldn't keep up with what was happening and whatever these needles were pumping into his body. He couldn't resist the chemicals and the lights, as he drifted off into sleep.

* * *

Link opened his eyes once again, but everything was dark. He reached up to his head to feel the smoothness of the helmet. Lifting up the helmet, he noticed the chrome room once again. Vaati and a few redshirts arrived to take the needles out of his body.

"What just happened?" Link asked, quaking in fear.

Vaati stared at him in a stern face. "We put you to sleep in order to check your brain waves."

"Why was that necessary?"

"It helped us... determine something." Vaati trailed. He looked at the redshirts, and signaled for them to leave. "We figured that we would tell you so you won't have any huge expectations."

Link grew nervous with the origin inside his quickly accelerating heartbeat. "Huge expectations? What do you mean?"

"Heh. Do you really want to find out? It's about your power. We won't tell you if you don't want to find out."

He put a finger to his chin. _This isn't a movie. This isn't a book_ _. It's not like a spoiler. I don't care. It's like my doctor telling me I've got a disease, that I need to know as soon as possible._

"Tell me, please."

"Heh. Hehhehhehhehhehhehhehe." Vaati replied. "You know, for experiments, we need separate groups of people. Have you taken a science class before?"

"Yeah... what does this have to do with what you were going to tell me."

"This complex is meant to do experiments. And, the same rules apply. Tell me what those two groups are." Vaati demanded.

"Umm..." Link rambled. "You need an experimental group."

"And?"

"And?" Vaati encouraged.

"..." Link was silent. He thought about what his school taught him, but he was seriously drawing a blank right now.

"You're an idiot if I actually have to spell it out for you."

He continued thinking, as the realization dawned on him. "You mean... I'm actually..."

"Yeah." Vaati replied, rather condescendingly. "You're a perfectly ordinary, powerless, _control subject_."

Control subject? He racked his brain. That meant he was just a typical high school student, who was wrestled away from his family for absolutely no reason.

"I'm just a control subject? Not just some sort of late bloomer?"

"Nope." Vaati replied, fingering his purple hair. "Typical Auras have a certain brainwave pattern that is distinctly different than the average person's. But you... you're just an average person that the soldiers randomly selected. There's nothing special about you."

Link pondered that thought. "Wait. If I'm just an average person, why am I here?"

"Didn't I just tell you why? Jeez, open your ears. You were randomly plucked out to serve as a control subject. The only control subject in this facility."

"But, why can't I leave? Or, why didn't you just call for volunteers?"

"Like someone would volunteer for something like this. As for your first question, we don't want the secrets getting out into the outside world. That would cause mass panic, outrage over the existence of the Auras. Now, you're done for the labs. Why don't you go back to your room and reflect on how unimportant and insignificant you are."

Link, taken aback by Vaati's condescending tone, jumped off the surgical chair and began walking out of the room with Vaati following. When they reached the end of the labs, Vaati made one comment before he left.

"One more thing, be sure to follow the rules closely. Unlike literally everyone else in this facility, you're expendable and replaceable. We won't be light on the punishments next time."

With that, Vaati literally picked up Link by the back of his neck and shoved Link out of the lab doors, with his face smashing into the concrete floors. He stood up, and touched his nose, which stung like crazy. Checking his bracelet, he realized that it was currently 5 PM. Being as tired as he was, he decided to instead skip Zelda's daily meeting and go straight to bed to reflect on everything that had happened today. With his body exhausted, he hobbled along the wall and pushed into the boy's dorms. He walked along the walls in order to reach his own dorm, in which he subsequently entered and almost immediately collapsed on his bed.

He was a normal person in this facility, which in comparison, made him the most unusual. And Vaati's snarky comment at the end did not improve anything either. He racked his memory. Did Vaati say that he was the _only_ control subject in the facility? He definitely implied that. And that comment about him being replaceable? Definitely true.

Link forcefully slammed the side of his fist into the wall on his side of the bed. "GRAAAH!" he shouted. It just wasn't fair. If Vaati was telling the truth, and Link saw no reason why he would lie, that would mean the only reason that he was ripped away from his family was just from pure luck. They didn't specifically want him because of who he was. They wanted him because he was present when the army made their first attack on Lurelin. If he had just went home with Aryll and the crab, he wouldn't have been taken. He lied down on his bed, needing to get some shuteye from everything he had just been told.

* * *

Link opened his eyes to see the darkness of the room. This dark room seemed a little different than how he left it. He stood up and walked to the door, which the light switch was right next to. He flicked the light switch to see the beige dorm room replaced by a green one. The carpet was covered with dirty clothes, paper scraps, and a few pieces of garbage. As he turned around, he noted that the bed was replaced with a desk, with another red twin-sized bed on the opposite side of the room. This wasn't the room he entered. This was the room he left. The room that he left over a week ago.

This was... his room. Not his room in solitary, not his room that he shared with Komali. This was his room back home, in Lurelin. Was this real? Was he really home? Was this whole 'Aura Complex' thing just a big nightmare? He knew from experience how long dreams could seem to be.

He gripped the doorknob, anticipating the view of what was beyond the door. As he turned it, and pulled the door outwards, he saw the hallway that he was oh so familiar with. He traced the wall with his hands, feeling the nostalgia. He rounded the corner to encounter his living room. But, his TV was turned on, the oven cooking, and, most importantly, the couch was occupied.

"Aryll!" Link shouted, running towards the pigtailed eight-year-old. He embraced her in a big hug.

"Big Brother?" She asked.

"Aryll!" Link cried. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Big Brother?" She asked, once again. "What are you doing here, Big Brother?"

Link stood down, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You disowned your family, Big Brother."

"Huh?"

With that, Link's mother walked out of the kitchen. "You abandoned us. You abandoned us, Link, when you knew that we had a family gathering."

"I didn't mean to-"

Link's father entered the front door. "Link? Aren't you dead to us? Why are you still here?"

"I was kidnapped!"

"You put Aryll in danger!" Mom shouted ferociously. "You have no place here!"

"You were kidnapped you say?" Dad screamed. "It's because you're a freak. You, and your friends at that complex are freaks that have no place in our home, in our city, on our planet. You're all mistakes!"

"I'm just a normal kid! I have no powers!" Link pleaded.

"Heh." Dad replied. "Even at that little Complex of yours you're the degenerate outcast. You make me sick."

Link turned to Aryll. "Aryll! Please!"

"Big Brother, you should have protected me."

"Huh?"

Aryll lifted up her sleeve to show cuts, wounds, and gashes all over her arm and shoulder. "This was you. You caused this."

Link's mom spoke up. "If you had just headed home, and not dilly-dallied with the burgers, you could've avoided this. We could've just proceeded with the family reunion. But no. You ruined it."

Link began to tear up and ran outside. But, this time, the entire city was destroyed on a far greater scale than what he had witnessed himself. His neighbors' houses were in ruins, the street was torn up, and the air was filled with ash. Turning around, trying to return home, he rattled the doorknob. It was locked. Looking towards the street again, he noticed a tank pulling up to their house, the only intact one in the city. The tank fired three missiles, which decimated the entire house in a massive explosion.

Link looked in horror. Everything was gone. Feeling a few hands pinning his arms against his back, he began to struggle. He was walked over to a truck, and thrown in the container in the back.

"L...k"

"L...nk"

"Li..k"

"Link"

"LINK!

Link jolted awake as he saw the ceiling of the now familiar dorm room, with Komali staring over him.

"Link!" Komali shouted. "Are you okay?"

Link just sat there and stared at him.

"What happened?"

"Nothing, nothing, I'm alright. Don't worry about me. Just let me sleep." Link protested. He twisted around in his bed to face the wall.

"You're still tired?" Komali asked. Thinking about that remark, Link checked his bracelet. 5:30 PM.

"I've only been asleep for half an hour. I don't want to meet Zelda and Malon right now. I'm too exhausted."

"You've been asleep for over a day, Link. What happened?"

At this information, Link sat up and rubbed the sleep and exhaustion out of his eyes. Komali leaned in and whispered into Link's ear. "We've moved the meeting spot. Let's just get some dinner first. You're probably starving. I'll lead you there."

* * *

After Link had finished his bratwurst, Link had put his tray away and had began to follow Komali through the concrete hallways, until they stopped in front of the mines. Komali sneaked inside of the doorway to the mines, and Link confusedly followed like a duckling. Descending down the ladder, Link almost lost his footing in anticipation. While they were entering the mines, Komali completely disregarded the safety equipment as well as the tools and ran inside. They approached what looked like a pile of gravel. Komali pushed the gravel to the side to reveal a space behind it, in which he entered. Link followed, and Komali then pushed the gravel back into place. Zelda and Malon were there, already speaking.

"Link!" they shouted. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Solitary was just terrible."

"Why did you hit Groose!" Zelda scolded.

"He was abusing you. I didn't just want to see this guy bothering you."

"That wasn't a good thing to do. Just let me fight my own battles from now on, okay?" Zelda asked.

"Yeah, alright." Link said, still slightly depressed from Vaati's reveal.

"Are you okay?" Malon asked. "You seem a little down."

"Nah, I'm fine. Why did you move the meeting spot?"

"Two reasons." Zelda replied. "First, I don't want to run into Groose again. He'll probably know when we meet, and I just don't want to deal with him. Second, this is a place where we can openly discuss our plans. There's no camera, and almost zero chance of there being a microphone in here. We dug this hole ourselves."

Komali stared at his bracelet. "Didn't you say that there could've been a microphone inside of our bracelets?"

"I doubt it." Zelda said. "I only see solid metal and glass in here. If there's a microphone, I'd probably see it."

"Eh, fair enough." Malon stated.

"Did anything interesting happen while I was out?" Link asked.

"Oh, my god, Zelda makes the best food in the world." Malon replied. "She should make you something after the meeting."

"Ill... keep that in mind." Link replied. "Anything, like, important? Any new plans of escape?"

"I've taken notice of the vents around the complex." Komali replied. "There's been a vent in, like, every room. They have to lead outside, or else it'll be useless."

"That... that could work." Zelda replied. "But, we just need to plan a bit better."

"Vaati and the redshirts work in the labs." Link said. "It's likely that the exit is somewhere around there, as there's no way they're stuck in this facility too."

"That's a good observation." Zelda congratulated. "I didn't exactly see anything that looked like an exit within the labs, however."

"Me neither," Link recounted. He saw Zelda's blue eyes peek up at him.

"What did you just say?" she inquired.

"No-nothing."

"You said 'Me neither'. Did you go to the labs?"

"I might've gone right after my sentence."

"What happened? What can you do?" Zelda asked, curious. "What's your Aura ability?"

 _Oh, golden goddesses. I don't want them to know._ he thought. _I don't want them to treat me differently._

"I have no idea." Link responded. "Vaati tried to get me to unlock it. But, nothing came to me. He let me go after maybe around two or three hours of it."

Zelda seemed confused and unconvinced. "But... when it was my turn at the labs, Vaati insisted that I unlock my powers, and refused to let me leave until I did."

"Maybe he made an exception?"

"With someone like Vaati, I doubt it." Zelda replied, crossing her arms. "Well, whatever. That's not important. I have a strategy, but it requires some planning and some long-term preparations before we can execute it."

"I'm listening." Link said.

"Have you noticed that our bracelets never need to charge or change batteries?" Zelda asked. Link, Malon, and Komali nodded in synchronization. "That means that they must be charged wirelessly. If we can tamper with the power supply, it should deactivate our bracelets."

"But... where is the power supply of this facility?" Malon asked.

"That's what I don't know. Worst-case scenario, it could be on the outside the facility. I'm just throwing ideas out here."

Link thought for possible ideas, but came up short. "Hmm... For now, we should just prepare."

"Prepare?" Komali asked.

"Like, the department store sells backpacks. We each buy a backpack, and then stock it with things we need for our escape."

"What kind of things do we need?" Malon inquired.

Zelda seemed like a pro at preparation. "Okay. I've looked at the largest backpacks that the department store has. It can store a lot, but not too much. We need food, clothes, and possibly some luxuries. Maybe some rupees if we can get our hands on it."

Malon was stunned. "What do you mean by luxuries?"

"I mean things like sleeping bags, medical kits, maybe a survival knife, anything helpful that we don't necessarily _need_ for our survival. But, I think we should hold off on escaping just for a little bit longer."

Link was speechless. "You want us to delay escaping? Why?"

"I want everyone to go into the labs so we can unlock our Aura powers. They'd be fairly useful when we get these bracelets off."

Link, once again, felt very uncomfortable. He had no powers. How would he be useful? He'd just be a drag.

But then, he remembered. He remembered the promise that he made to Zelda.

 _"I swear, when we escape this place, we will help you to the best of our ability. That's a promise."_

He had sworn that he would help Zelda to the best of his ability. But, would his ability be enough?

* * *

 **A/N: So... yeah. Link's a completely normal teenager. I bet you didn't see that one coming. But, I want you all to vote. I've been debating about how soon I want the four to escape the facility. If I have them escape very soon (maybe around 2-3 chapters from now), I feel like I may miss out on some important development and opportunities. But, if I hold off and have them escape later (around 5-6 chapters from now), I feel that I may get bored and slow the updates. So... I'm leaving it up to you. I'm going to put up a poll soon on my profile about how soon I should put the escape. Please note that when they escape, the story will drastically change focus from the characters' struggles into adventure and the main conflict of this fic.**

 **Also, this is my longest chapter yet! WooHoo!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Arc 1: The Aura Complex**

 **Chapter 10: Fires of Passion**

* * *

 _ **~Malon~**_

Malon strolled through the grocery store in her initial dress, picking out non-perishable foods and stuffing it in her backpack. Checking her bracelet, she noted her rather low amount of credits. She didn't work much. Growing up on a small farm, Malon wasn't used to the brute-strength work in the mines or the nimble work in the factory. She just wasn't. Sure, if you gave her some cows to milk or some crops to tend to, she'd be doing that from dusk to dawn. But, unluckily for her, the work was just too brutal for her to do it consistently. Regardless, she still worked at the factory rather infrequently and did work a bit in the mines to create that hidden room beyond the gravel.

While humming and trotting around the store, she grabbed several cans and jars.

Canned pickles? Certainly. Sardines? Why not. Canned whole Cuckoo? Weird, but okay.

After she paid for all of the cans of food, she returned to her room and dropped the bag onto the floor. "Hey, Zel-"

She looked up to see no one there. Her bed was empty, and there was no sign of her in the room. She thought for a second, innocently putting her finger to her chin. She hadn't said anything about leaving, and they had only recently returned from their meeting. Where would she be?

...

...

 _Oh, jeez._

Malon put her shoes back on and began running out of Dorm Hall B and into the kitchen to stop Link from the inevitable torture that he would soon experience. As she bursted into the kitchen, she noticed that it was too late. Link sat at the table in the dining section, cheeks full, with Zelda sitting next to him. She saw him immediately spit it out and take a desperate sip of water.

"I'll try to be nice," Link asked. "But that is rancid. The outside is burnt, the inside is raw, there's a black hair in my food, which I don't even know where that came from because we're both blonde, it's bland, and I'm going to get carbon monoxide poisoning from standing in front of this."

"Wow. Even you think it's bad." Zelda replied, a dull expression on her face. Neither Link nor Zelda seemed to notice Malon's presence.

Link stood up and headed to the kitchen. "I'll show you the ropes. My parents would always have me cook on weekends. I've learned a thing or two."

He grabbed a raw slab of beef and then began oiling a pan. He slathered the steak in oil and then coated it with pepper and salt. "You want to season the food. Something you obviously don't know how to do."

Zelda watched in amazement, blushing. It was at this point that Malon decided to leave. She left the kitchen behind her, glad that her friend was bonding with Link. It was obvious by Zelda's behavior, at least to Malon, that she liked Link. There was no hiding it. While Malon wasn't entirely sure if Link reciprocated Zelda's feelings, it seemed like they were getting along great.

Now getting bored, and not knowing what to do, Malon decided to go to the library. She had unlocked solely for the reason that Zelda seemed to like it. Malon wasn't a huge fan of historical books, like Zelda, but instead liked the fiction and fantasy books that you would typically find in a children's section of a town library.

Jeez, she really was a child.

Whatever. She didn't care. She entered the library and browsed the fiction section. Looking through the books, she noticed one that she's never heard of before. The rest of the books were rather famous or well-known. She reached for it, and tried to pull it out, but the top segment only came out halfway before the book stopped with a *click*.

Huh? She let go of it, in which it slid right back into place. She tugged at it again, which it clicked again. This was strange, and seemed rather important. She browsed the rest of the books and saw another one that she didn't recognized. She pulled at this one, which also clicked. Meanwhile, her brain went click. She grabbed both books, and tugged them down at the same time. They both went *click*.

However this time, she heard a mechanism go off. After hearing a few sounds of what could've been gears twisting around, the bookshelf on the far back door slid downwards into the floor, revealing a hidden room.

 _What is this?_

 _Why is this here?_

 _Is this a way out?_

The hidden room was very dark and had a musty smell to it. Checking the security camera in the room, she noted that the bookshelf was right underneath it, enough so that it was almost certainly a blind spot. Since Malon was alone in the library, she decided to venture inside. She began to walk in, as the bookshelf slid up behind her. After the shelf closed up, a dim yellow light emitted from a single hanging lightbulb. The room was covered in spiderwebs and a thick layer of dust. From the looks of it, even the staff didn't seem to know the room was here. There wasn't even a camera.

But, the thing that stood out, were the file cabinets on either side of the room She approached it, and wiped off the dust from the handle with her finger. She wasn't an expert in age and dust, but it had to be older than five years old.

Malon grabbed the handle, getting dust all over her hand. But, before she could pull the drawer, she heard something muffled, probably coming from the library.

 **Malon Lon. Please come to the labs as soon as possible.**

Malon recognized that. It was her time to discover her power. She didn't know if she was going to be impressed, disappointed, or straight-up freaked out. But, she hoped for the best. She returned to the entrance, and pressed a button on the side of the room, hoping that it would slide the bookshelf down. It opened up, and closed as a group of redshirts entered the library.

"It's your time in the labs. Please come with us or else we'll zap you."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." she replied. She walked along the redshirts to enter the labs and see the sneering face of Vaati. Vaati said nothing and motioned for Malon to follow. She did, and entered the target room. Vaati opened the door and motioned for Malon to enter. She stood there as her bracelet powered down, anticipating Vaati's commands.

"What do you want me to do?" she innocently asked.

"Imagine yourself throwing a baseball." Vaati replied. Malon stood still and thought of herself in a baseball game, dribbling the ball, and scoring a touchdown. Wait, that's not how baseball works.

Malon was just standing there with her eyes closed and doing nothing.

"What are you doing?" Vaati asked, frustrated.

"You told me to imagine throwing a baseball!" Malon protested.

"No, make the motion like you're throwing a baseball. Don't just stand there and think about it! Use common sense!"

Malon scrunched her hand and imagined throwing a baseball right at the target. But, as expected, nothing happened.

"Try again. Focus channeling your energy into your arm, and into the air above it. Then, throw it. There's no guarantee that your power will have anything to do with projectiles like this, but projectiles are the most common and easiest type of power to channel."

Malon tensed her body. She stood still and then channeled all of her feelings, positive and negative, into her hand. She felt her hand slowly begin to heat up with anticipation and nervousness. She chucked her arm towards the target.

An orange ball of flame ejected from her hand and fingertips, hitting the target square in the forehead. Vaati and the redshirts began to clap.

"That was the fastest one we've had yet!" Vaati cheered. Malon wasn't as enthusiastic, but more intrigued. She stared at the palms of her hands. They seemed rather normal. Did she really just throw a fireball? She turned her head to look at the dummy, which was on fire and slowly melting away into a puddle of goop. She tried again, and threw a second fireball at the slowly disintegrating dummy.

 _This is awesome._ Malon thought.

"Fire powers..." Vaati trailed. "One of the most generic powers you'd think. Yet, the first time we've actually seen one out of the fifty or so people we've tested. Let's see what else you can do with that fire of yours."

"Just out of curiosity..." Malon said. "What can the other people do?"

"Only because you asked so nicely, and you gave us quick results, I'll tell you." Vaati replied. "We've had several powers so far. We have force fields, shadow powers, super speed, super strength, magnesis, all sorts of amazing things."

"Oh. You said something about secondary and primary powers the first day we were here. Does that mean I'll get a second power?"

Vaati sniffed. "Unfortunately, not. Since you've unlocked an elemental power first, it's almost certain that that's the only power you're gonna get"

"What do you mean, elemental power?"

"Elemental powers are powers over... elements. I mean stuff like water manipulation, air manipulation, plant manipulation, stuff like that. If you start out with powers like those, as well as major enhancement powers like strength or speed, you're likely not getting any more. The secondary powers are small things, like shield making, body manipulation, and night vision."

"Oh." Malon frowned at not getting any more powers. Oh well. She guessed that fire would be fun to play with anyway.

"Stop." Vaati commanded. Malon reluctantly stopped throwing the fireballs.

"I want you to try to create a constant stream of fire. Like a flamethrower."

Malon sighed. She didn't even know where to start with that one. She just held her hand up in the air, directed towards the melting dummy. She imaged similar thoughts, feelings, and emotions towards her right hand, exactly the same process that went into throwing the fireballs. She felt heat rush through her arm, and then felt the fire spurt out of her palm like a fireman's hose. The flames bursted out in a straight, constant line. Malon moved around her hand, and the flames moved accordingly in whatever direction she pointed it in. Vaati took notice and scribbled a few things down into his notes and forms.

"Try to increase the distance."

Malon fueled the rest of her energy into her arm, almost doubling the distance to around thirty feet. This was the most amazing thing that she had ever done. She wanted to go home and show her dad what she could do. But, alas, she couldn't. Even if they escaped, there was a high likelihood that she'd never see her father again. Trying to stay positive, she continued pushing all of her energy into her hand and into the flame. But, energy is energy. Her hand stopped emitting flames, despite Malon desperately trying to continue it. Her hand began shaking, all of her energy dissipated into the flames and the surrounding air. A huge wave of weariness went over her head, as she collapsed onto one knee. Her face was sweating, and her eyelids became very heavy.

"Malon, stay with us." Vaati demanded, snapping his fingers. She stood up, and leaned against the side of the glass divider between the testing room and the observation room. She placed her hands on the side of her dress, and heard a hissing sound. Looking down, she noticed that both of her arms were red-hot from her forearm up to her fingertips, and there were two black hand prints on her white dress.

She didn't notice her arms were that hot. How, and why were her arms that hot? Now, Vaati seemed to take notice as well, and jotted down some more things into his forms. Malon, being as curious as she was, took her red-hot arm, stuck out her index finger, and rested it on her exposed, normal-colored shoulder. She felt nothing. In response, she tested her dress once again. She pressed her finger into her white dress, which subsequently burst into flames.

 _Crud, that was a bad idea._

She spent the next few minutes spinning around, trying to extinguish the flames on her dress. Vaati and the redshirts watched in amusement, as one of the redshirts pulled out a phone to film her.

"Really? Really?" Malon asked, panicking, her dress slowly turning into embers. "Help me!"

"The fire won't hurt you." Vaati rebutted. "You just tested that yourself."

"Do you want me to walk out of here naked?" Malon screamed.

Vaati sighed and turned to the redshirt on his left. "Go get a bucket of water."

Malon opened her mouth to talk, but Vaati returned gaze to Malon. "Just before you ask, I will say that reactivating the bracelet will cause the fire to burn you."

Malon closed her mouth and patiently waited. Soon, the redshirt returned to the room, opened the glass door, and then drenched her. At this point, her dress was in tatters and she had to literally hold the remains of her clothes to her chest in order to prevent it from revealing too much.

"Alright, we'll let you go back out now. You should probably change."

Malon nodded as Vaati messed with the control panel to reactivate the bracelet. After that, Vaati led Malon out of the labs while she was careful to not let the burnt rags slip off her chest. She walked back to her dorm, luckily dorm hall B was right next to the labs. She got several stares from the girls in the dorm hall, but she didn't care. She reached her room, and scanned her bracelet.

But, it didn't scan. She tried again. Nothing happened.

 _Is my bracelet broken?_

She tried a few more times, but to no avail. She slammed her hand on the door, hoping Zelda was there. After a few seconds slamming her fists into it, Zelda opened the door.

"Malon? What happened to you?" Zelda asked in exclamation.

"I was in the labs. Fire powers." Malon replied.

"I see..." Zelda replied. "We can talk about it later. Sorry about your dress."

"It's fine." Malon responded. "I have the top and jeans. As long as I don't burn those to shreds, I think I'm fine."

Malon quickly dropped and disposed of the remaining cloth around her body and replaced it with her causal clothes. Still exhausted from the flamethrower test, she just wanted to lie on her bed and drift off into sleep. She literally hovered over her bed and collapsed straight onto it, falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

Malon was sitting on a stool on the side of a cow, with a bucket right underneath the udders. She squeezed and milked the udders, something that she was completely familiar and comfortable with. After milking and squeezing for the next ten minutes, she filled up the bucket enough to get maximum production without any spillage in transfer. She walked the bucket over and placed it over an open fire to pasteurize and kill any harmful bacteria. After that, she happily began to bottle up the milk for sale.

"Malon..." her dad said, walking into the room.

"Oh, hey, Dad." Malon replied.

"Are the milk bottles ready for transit?"

"Almost. I have a little bit of milk left to bottle up."

Malon tilted the bucket to gather enough milk in the corner to scoop it up. "That should be it. How many bottles do we have?"

"Around two hundred. Help me load them into the truck?"

Malon nodded as she began to carry the crates of bottles into their shipping truck. In due time, Malon and her father were driving towards Kakariko, with Malon admiring the Hyrulean countryside. A sign saying "KAKARIKO: 25 MILES" whizzed past their eyes.

Currently, they were driving past a couple of cherry plantations. Malon loved seeing this each week; it was beautiful. But, as she was gazing out, she noticed something grey and mechanical out of the corner of her eye, trampling some of the cherry trees. As she looked at it head on, it seemed to be a tank.

What? Why was there a tank out in the middle of the Hyrulean countryside? But, this tank was large, ominous, and heading straight in their direction. Her father didn't seem to see it. But, as they approached it, it began to aim straight at the truck.

Then, it fired. Tarin screamed, swerved, and crashed as the truck collapsed sideways and scraped along the pavement for a solid forty feet before coming to a stop directly in front of the tank. Malon and her father were both trapped inside with broken glass all over their sides. Malon heard a few footsteps on the pavement as well as what sounded like a lightweight vehicle arrive. The door, directly above Malon, opened to reveal a man in a red shirt as well as military gear. He grabbed Malon and pulled her out of the car with no words. She was about to thank him for saving her, but he shushed her. He used some kind of machine to prick her finger and then scanned her blood.

"We've caught one! Throw her into the truck!"

 _Huh?_

A couple more redshirts arrived to grab her. Still delirious from her injuries, she watched as she was dragged away from her father, but too fatigued to actually take any action. Smoke began emitting from her father's truck, getting all into her eyes and nose.

* * *

Malon jolted awake, wanting to escape the now distant memory disguised as a nightmare. She was reminded of everything. Of how her father was probably waiting for her to return. Of how she could've done something to stop them, or warned her father about the tank in the first place.

 _No. It's alright. It's not my fault. It's not my fault._

She sniffed and felt her eyes water, still feeling the lingering senses from her dream. Then she realized something. The smoky air wasn't just a lingering sense. It was her actual room, smoking in the dark. She stood up from her bed and felt her way to the light switch. After she turned it on, through the smoke, she noticed two charred arm marks on the blanket of her bed, as well as various charred handprints on the walls leading to the lightswitch. The switch was slightly melted as well. She looked at her own arms, which were now glowing red. Malon silently freaked and turned out the lights, so it would be difficult for Zelda to notice the smoke if she were to wake up. Luckily, Zelda was asleep and too much of a heavy sleeper to notice.

"Did I just use my powers?" Malon whispered to herself. She checked the bracelet, just to make sure it worked well. Then she remembered. It didn't work when she was coming into the room. It must've broke from the first time her hands began to burn hot, back in the labs, and Vaati must've not noticed. She stared at it, willing for her hands to return to normal. She hated the facility, just like everyone else here. But, she didn't want to burn it to the ground and kill everyone. After a few minutes of sitting there with glowing hands, trying not to touch anything, Zelda began to stir.

"Malon? did you buy a new heate-"

Zelda was speechless as she watched Malon's hands glow in the darkness.

"What?"

Zelda turned on the light to see the several burn marks in Malon's bed and wall.

"What happened?" She asked, concerned.

"I think my bracelet broke." Malon replied. Zelda grabbed her wrist to check the bracelet, but that wasn't the smartest of ideas.

*hiss*

The moment Zelda's hand made contact with Malon's, she recoiled in pain, falling to her own bed.

"What're you doing? Stop that!" Zelda demanded, clutching her hand in pain.

"I'm trying! I don't know what to do!" Malon replied. She began to sneeze from the smoke, but sneezed out a couple of baby flames instead of snot and spit, which dissipated a few inches from her nose.

"Okay, I know this is rather serious, but that is the most adorable thing ever." Zelda said. "Should we contact Vaati?"

"No." Malon replied. "I'll try to see if I can control it."

"It doesn't look like you have the hang of it, Malon." Zelda replied. "I'll go out and buy you some fireproof gloves. Stand in the middle of the room, and don't touch anything."

Zelda quickly left the room as Malon was awkwardly standing in the center of it, holding up her hands to not touch any of the furniture or any of her clothes. She was anticipating for Vaati or at least a couple of redshirts to enter the room as she had openly discussed what had happened and the cameras caught almost everything. She was standing for a full ten minutes before Zelda reentered the room.

"Sorry for the wait." Zelda replied. "Department store was really big."

Malon darted her eyes to the long, black leather gloves that Zelda was holding. "Those? Those are fireproof?"

"Supposedly." Zelda replied. Malon slipped them on over her busted bracelet.

"Y'know, I don't think Vaati's watching us very carefully." Malon informed.

"I've observed that too." Zelda replied. "I think it's because there's too many people and rooms to watch or listen to everyone at once."

Malon finished pulling the gloves up to her elbows. "This is really convenient." Malon observed. "Eh. Whatever."

"I think you breaking your bracelet pushed up our escape date." Zelda replied. "Let's just wait until Komali has some idea of what he could do, and then we'll initiate it."

"Don't forget Link." Malon informed.

"What about Link?"

"Didn't Link say that they let him out without discovering his powers?"

"I think that was total bullshit. He's definitely hiding something. But, we all have our secrets, don't we?"

"Is that the first time I heard you swear, Zel?"

"I think it was. The sleep's getting to me."

Zelda checked her own bracelet and showed Malon. "It's 2 AM. Just go back to sleep."

Malon looked up and saw the smoke dissipating through the vents. "Fine."

Zelda turned off the lights with the half-melted switch and hopped into bed. Malon jumped into her bed, but couldn't easily fall asleep. She pulled her glove off her left hand, and stared at the red glow. There was no doubt that it was using up her energy quickly, and that it would cause her to be tired a lot quicker. Despite the energy sap, Malon was too nervous to fall asleep with the same feelings as the night before. She stared at the ceiling, and silently willed for her hand to cool. After a few minutes of attempting to extinguish the heat, she gave up and slid the glove back on. Rolling over in her bed, she slowly began to clear her mind and fall asleep.

* * *

Malon woke up, but had absolutely no idea what time it was due to her broken wristband. She slowly walked up to Zelda, careful not to disturb her. Malon checked Zelda's bracelet, seeing that it was already eight thirty. She shook Zelda awake, slowly telling her to wake up, eager to start the day with breakfast. She groaned and put the pillow as a sound barrier between Malon's voice and her ear. She shook her more vigorously, until she ended up picking up the pillow and slamming it down on Zelda's body. She groaned and stood up, wiping sleep out of her eyes. Checking her bracelet, she began to get ready for the day with Malon.

Halfway to the dining hall, Malon realized something.

"My bracelet's broken. I can't order food."

Zelda stopped in annoyance. "I'll get some ingredients, and I'll cook something for you."

"I'd rather starve."

"FINE. I'll go buy a second meal, and then bring it to the mines."

Malon turned around and ran away, into the hidden room in the mines. Zelda entered first with a to-go bowl of oatmeal and a spoon. Malon quickly scarfed it down as Zelda somewhat awkwardly watched her. Once Malon was finished, she set the to go box on the floor. As if on cue, Link and Komali instantly came into the hidden room.

"Hey, girls." Link said.

Komali waved. "Hey, you t-"

 **Komali Quill. Please come to the labs as soon as possible.**

"Bye, you two."

Komali instantly left the hidden room.

Link began talking like nothing happened. "What's with the gloves?"

"My bracelet broke."

"Okay... Number one, what does that have to do with the gloves?"

Malon whipped off the glove on her left hand, revealing her still-glowing skin. Link looked amazed and slightly disturbed. "What?" he asked.

"I think this is what broke my bracelet in the first place." Malon said, a stern look on her face. "Zelda said it was probably a good idea to just keep it broken, as it'll no doubt aid in our escape."

"What else can you do?" Link asked. Malon cupped her hand and threw the air, making a fireball appear and dissipate on the stone walls. Link was amazed.

"I can also do a flamethrower, but I have no idea what else I can do."

"That's pretty awesome." Link replied. "I'd ask for a demonstration bu-"

Malon interrupted him by stretching her arm out in the opposite direction, fire flowing from her hands

"Looks like you've got that under good control." Link observed. Zelda was also studying her, intrigued.

"Not quite." Malon said.

"How so?"

Malon waved her glowing hot hands right in front of Link. "I don't know how to turn this off."

Then, a thought occurred to Malon. If her bracelet was broken, why not get rid of the whole thing? Right in front of Link and Zelda, she whipped off both gloves. She then placed her hot red hand on her bracelet on her left wrist. Gripping the entire thing, it started to steam and hiss. The bracelet now began to glow red and get soft, as Malon ripped it off with one fell swoop.

With that, her wrist suddenly felt so much better with the bracelet missing, as she flexed her wrist around freely.

"Are you gonna do that to us too?" Zelda asked.

"Not until we're ready to break out." Malon replied, slipping her gloves back on. "I can't even get back into my own room, or get food, but that's fine, since I have Zelda."

"Oh! That reminds me," Link started. He grabbed a paper out of his jean pocket and unfolded it. "They're holding a competition. Winner gets five thousand credits."

Malon snatched the page out of Link's hand and stared at it.

 **Aura Complex Monthly Competition**

 **10 Competitors battle it out in various competitions among many fields.  
**

 **Hosted by Vaati**

 **Begins Saturday, see Vaati if interested.**

"I dunno, Link. Sure, if you want credits, you can join, but I'm not really feeling it."

"No." Link rebutted. "I was just saying, this is a good time to escape."

"Eh?"

Zelda put a finger to her chin. "That's right. Once this competition starts, Vaati will be distracted. Sunday is... in three days?"

"Excluding today, that's right." Link replied. "That gives us three days to plan and prepare. Malon, do you have any ideas? Especially utilizing that fire of yours."

"I could rip off your bracelets, but I might burn you."

"I'm not willing to take that risk." Link said. "Most of the rooms are locked without bracelets, and we'll be somewhat restricted. Maybe once we get outside of the complex."

"I have a few ideas for the escape itself." Zelda said, finger in the air. "Komali said something about air ducts, right? Malon can just rip the covers off the vents, and we can get around that way. The redshirts won't be able to see us in the vents. But, while the vents do lead outside, there's a high chance we'll run into a fan that'll kill us. We'll need to drop down into the facility for the actual escape, which'll be We have to stick together."

"But, what if they catch us?" Malon asked. "Can't they just press a button and zap our bracelets?"

"Rubber..." Zelda muttered.

"Huh?"

"Rubber tubing. They have rubber tubing in the factory. If you cut it in half lengthwise, you can slip it in between your bracelet and your arm. That way, we can still access the rest of the facility. That'll block the electricity. For now, I'm assigning roles for us all."

Malon and Link listened in closely. "Malon, cut up the rubber tubing. Link, buy supplies for our escape. That's food, water, clothes, and other necessities. Pack it into four backpacks."

"I already have some food packed in our room." Malon replied.

"Perfect. Give it to Link after the meeting. I'll survey the facility to see what'll make the best weapons in the event that the redshirts come after us. As for Komali, i dunno, just have him get more supplies with you, Link. Or, anything else you can think of that we'll need."

"I have a question." Malon stated, raising her hand. "What will happen to us when we actually escape?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, like, by now, North Hyrule has probably taken over a sizable portion of South Hyrule by now. If we return home, they'll just spot and find us, and then send us back here. Not to mention that we have no rupees."

Zelda took that into consideration. "You're right. We should flee into a neighboring country. The problem, though, is that none of us know where this facility is located, so it'll be difficult for us to know which country would be the closest to run to. As for the rupee issue, I'll bet some of the redshirts have some money on them. We'll just knock them out and steal it."

Malon inhaled. This was going to be an insane plan.

* * *

 **Now, we see what Malon can do with her powers! Stay tuned for next week, where I'll showcase Komali's abilities (Yes, abilities with an 'S') with his own chapter. I didn't really give him much love within this chapter, so you'll have an entire chapter dedicated to him. And one more thing, that hidden room in the library will play an important role in the future chapters. The Complex will not fade from importance once the group moves on.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Arc 1: The Aura Complex**

 **Chapter 11: Now You See It**

* * *

 ** _~Komali~_**

"Stand on the circle." Vaati instructed. Komali nervously followed and stood on the circle. Vaati pressed the button to drop Komali down the chute. Now, being a Rito, Komali wasn't scared of heights. Instinctively, he spread out his wings in order to flap back up. But, he forgot to take the bracelet on his right arm into account. As a result, his right wing was fully extended and his left arm was restricted, causing Komali to swing to the side of the chute and smack his body and head against the wall.

He awoke on the concrete floor with a stinging pain in his right side and his beak.

"Come on. Stand up." Vaati commanded. Komali, afraid of Vaati's expression of authority, followed his instructions without a second word. Komali heard his bracelet re-power up around his wrist as Vaati opened up the glass door.

He couldn't deny that he was nervous. How could he not? The labs were intimidating, and the experiments were extremely dangerous. Vaati looked like the kind of person who would lash out at him if he did anything the slightest bit wrong. After all, he was the reason why his family and friends were attacked. Just to get at him.

Vaati snapped his fingers in front of Komali. "Hello?"

Komali came back to reality as Vaati was motioning to enter the next testing room. Looking around, he noticed it was entirely empty. He didn't know what to expect, since he had neglected to listen to all of the details of Zelda's experience, Link was a bit tight-lipped for reasons unknown, and he hadn't had a chance to talk about it with Malon yet. Standing there, Vaati pressed some button to cause some kind of wooden crate to drop on the ceiling. Komali moved out the the way, right before the box fell. The sound it made as well as the fact that it didn't bounce signified that it must be extremely heavy, and would almost definitely kill him if it was dropped on his head.

He was too focused staring at the box to notice anything else happening around him.

"KOMALI!" Vaati shouted, finally grasping his attention. He jumped back in surprise.

"Have you not been listening to what I asked you to do?"

"Uhm... no."

Vaati sighed in disappointment and repeated his instructions. "Just carry the box to the hole."

He looked around. "What hole?"

"The hole that just opened right there, Komali. Use your tiny little birdbrain to observe what's actually happening! I can't be here all day! I have other tests to conduct!"

Komali recoiled and was taken aback by that remark. The tone of Vaati's voice sounded like it would cut him. Wanting to avoid further beratings, Komali decided to get started. Trying to push the box, he noticed it was extremely heavy, and that it would be near impossible for him to carry. Pushing it may be possible, but having to lift it a foot off the ground was definitely out of his strength range. Even if there were three of him, he still probably couldn't lift it. In addition to his lack of exercise, Rito aren't exactly built for heavy-duty work. Typically, they have hollower bones and have less muscle and fat in order to stay aerodynamic during flight, but it's quite a disadvantage in combat or brute strength actions. And, because of the fact that they were indoors combined with the fact that his bracelet obstructed his left wrist and wings, being a Rito was a complete disadvantage in this facility. It didn't help that he didn't see any other Rito in the facility in the almost two weeks that he'd been here. It just added to his insecurity.

Pushing the box, he finally reached the wall with the hole after maybe twenty minutes of pushing. But, he just gave up in lifting it. He just walked away.

"Try to lift it to the hole, Komali." Vaati encouraged, still with a very condescending tone. Komali rolled his eyes and returned to the box. He used all of his strength to pull upwards on the box, but ended up wasting his energy. He collapsed backwards and landed on his back.

"Alright, alright, that's enough." Vaati said. "Are you feeling alright for the next test?"

"Wh-" Komali started, between breaths. "What do you mean? Is s-something else coming?"

"No, we just want you to regain your energy before this next part."

Oh, goddesses. Something was happening in the next test. He could sense it. Komali took this into account and sat on the floor, panting for around five minutes until his breath slowed.

"Alright, let's go." Vaati opened the door to lead Komali to a new room, which was entirely empty. Looking up at the ceiling, there was nothing there except for the lab light fixtures. He waited for a bit, anticipating what would happen.

Pressing a button, Vaati stared straight into Komali's soul. Looking around and hearing some mechanical noises, he turned to a segment of the back wall which was sliding upwards. Inside waited a young man, with a baseball bat in his hand.

"Uhh... hello?" Komali shyly asked. He raised the bat above his head as Komali began to instinctively run. Running wasn't easy, as the room was rather too open to get any real distance between himself and this guy. The man chased him around, trying to club him like a piñata.

"What're you doing?" Komali shouted, scrambling to avoid this maniac. The guy didn't say anything and continued chasing him around. Vaati, meanwhile, was just watching this transpire. He turned straight towards Vaati. "What the hell? I'm gonna die!"

"You have to fight him off yourself." Vaati replied. Komali rolled his eyes and continued scrambling. He needed something. A way to lose this person. But, all of a sudden, parts of the floor rose up, creating a maze-like structure within thel room. Komali, amazed at the technology in this facility, had no time to focus on his own thoughts. After all, there was a homicidal maniac trying to spill his blood. He was probably going to die or get injured anyway, but this was a great way to delay it.

After running around the tiny maze for a bit, the assaulter and Komali crossed paths. Looking behind him, he observed that there was a corner of the maze. The man approached him, smacking the baseball bat against his palm. The only thing that Komali could do was back up. It got to a point where Komali would be directly backed up to the wall. He was helpless. However, instead of making contact with the stone wall, Komali fell directly through it.

 _Huh?_ he thought. Looking up, the maze wall was still there. _Did I just phase through the wall?_

He leaned forwards and swatted the wall with his hand. It went right through the wall, he didn't even feel anything. Just then, the walls vanished. They didn't return to the ground, they just vanished.

"Hey, you!" Vaati shouted, making Komali recoil. Komali confusedly pointed to his own face.

"No, not you, Komali. I was talking to Mark."

"Uhh... yeah?" Mark replied.

"Go back."

"Bu-"

"NOW"

This 'Mark' guy dropped the bat and turned around, storming like a little kid throwing a tantrum back to the chamber he came from.

"What just happened?" Komali asked.

"That was your power." Vaati replied bluntly. "I want you to guess what you can do."

Komali was still confused. "Uhh... wall phasing?"

"Nope, try again." Vaati said. "Let me give you a hint. That maze was not part of our test."

"Eh?"

"Oh my god, you're so stupid. You can make illusions."

"Is that last part an insult...? Sounds like an insult."

"No, that's your power, you stupid pigeon. You can form illusions that aren't actually tangible."

"Oh. Okay, I guess?"

Komali decided to test it out. He imagined a lamppost standing right next to him. Straining his mind, he closed his eyes. When he opened it again, there was a lamppost standing right next to him. Trying to mess with it, he swung his hand right through the body of the lamp.

 _This is insane._

"Make it go away." Vaati ordered. Komali tried by clearing his thoughts of the lamppost. But, once he did, it was still there.

"I'm t-trying. I don't know what to do."

"Don't ask me what to do. I'm not the one who made it appear, and we don't fully understand everyone's powers yet either. Just do what you can."

Komali decided to focus on the lamppost that was already there. He imagined it dissipating, and strengthened that imagination to the apparition in front of him. The lamppost became kind of squiggly, and then vanished from sight.

"That's good." Vaati said. "Let's see how you can do moving objects. Try creating a moving baseball."

Komali tried to replicate the experiment that he did when he first arrived at the labs. He cupped his hands, and fully imagined a baseball in his hand. Pushing his image from his mind into his hand, he tried to throw it. But, things didn't exactly turn out that way.

Komali succeeded in making a baseball. But, the issue, was that the baseball was floating in mid-air. When Komali had formed it, he was trying to throw it. But, instead of flying, it phased right through his hand and stayed in midair.

"Alright, alright." Vaati said in response. "We can work on that next time. For now, let's test you for a major power."

"Eh? Major power?"

"Were you not paying attention to my opening speech? Geez, get it together."

Komali could tell that Vaati didn't like him very much. He just didn't know why, but he could tell it wouldn't bode well for him in the future.

"We'll test you for an elemental power, first. Just try to channel your inner energy inside yourself. Preferably towards your hands. That tends to work best for the others with elemental powers."

Komali tried to push all of his remaining energy towards his arms and hands. He tensed his shoulders and the rest of his body, but nothing happened. Vaati and Komali sat there for around five minutes.

"Well, I guess we'll move on and test yo-"

*BZZT*

Komali's bracelet somehow reacted to something, but Komali only heard the sound. Vaati fell silent. After a few minutes, Vaati reached into his pocket and pulled out some kind of transceiver.

"We need to check the subject's bracelet. Over."

A couple of redshirts entered the room and stood in front of the testing chamber. Two entered the chamber with tools such as screwdrivers, pliers, and shears. They bent down towards Komali's right wrist to take a look at it.

"Vaati, it doesn't look like there's an issu-"

A flash of light occurred as the redshirt was flung backwards, with an audible buzzing sound. The soldier laid on the ground as the other redshirt dropped his tools and rushed over. Much to Komali's relief, the first redshirt wasn't dead. Much to Komali's chagrin, he wasn't injured. He stood up and then walked out of the testing chamber. After quietly whispering to Vaati about something, the redshirts left the room.

"Alright, Komali. Focus your energy."

"Aren't you going to fix my bracele-"

"Your bracelet is fine. Just focus."

Komali, still clueless, decided to do what Vaati said. He focused and channeled his energy while he closed his eyes. He focused on the distress he went here.

Opening his eyes, he was sparking. Looking at his hands and the rest of his body, it was discharging sparks which were appearing and disappearing all over his bare skin. He also noticed that while the sparks were emitting light, it was only enough to make his body visible.

"What?" He asked, staring at his sparking hands. Now, he wasn't frightened. He already registered the shock of his illusion ability, so this was just an added bonus.

"Alright." Vaati replied, ignoring his question. "Try firing an electricity beam or something like that."

Komali got into a fighting stance and positioned his body towards the furthest wall. Trying to channel the energy that was manifesting in his body towards his hands, he aimed his hands and tried to eject the electricity.

It didn't work. He tried again, and nothing.

"Okay, okay, we can cut it here for today. I don't want you overworking yourself and getting injured."

Vaati pressed a button, which re-activated his bracelet. His body stopped sparking as he felt the exhaustion.

"Now, go back to your room and rest up."

Vaati opened the door for Komali, and pushed him out into the hallway. He didn't expect the rudeness that came from Vaati, but he wasn't surprised. He was a prisoner, after all. Now, since the time in the labs was over, Komali put everything that happened behind him. Checking the time, 3:30, he definitely missed Zelda's meeting. There was no doubt that everyone had gone their separate ways, but Komali had to check in with at least one of them in order to understand what had happened and prepare for anything important. He rushed back to his room, yet Link was not there. He fumbled with the telephone for a few minutes in order to call Malon and Zelda's room.

*BEEP* _'Ello? Zelda speaking._

 _"Hey, Z-zelda, can you meet me at the lounge in five minutes? I want you to t-tell me about what we discussed."_

 _"Who is this?"_

 _"It's Komali. I'm out of the labs now."_

 _"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I'll debrief you at dinnertime. Just relax until then."_

*BEEP*

Komali put the phone back down on the table and lied down on his bed for a few minutes. Had Zelda really come up with an escape plan? Could they really leave this place?

Regardless of what happened, he still had two and a half hours to kill and wasn't eager to spend it just lying on his bed. Leaving his room, he decided to head the arcade to blow off some steam and pass the time. Over the past two weeks, he had grown somewhat comfortable to the facility and it didn't seem that new to him anymore. The walls started to feel less cold and distant and more familiar. It had seemed less like a prison, and more like a plausible society. That didn't mean that he didn't hate it. He'd take any opportunity to escape.

The arcade was Komali's favorite place in the facility for obvious reasons. They had several things, like old-timey coin games (but were completely free), ping-pong tables, pool tables, air hockey, and modern console games. This was the only room that Komali had saw that was almost always jam packed besides the dining hall and dorm hall. He waited a couple of minutes in line in order to play a game of Mario Party, waiting for the current people to finish the game. When they left, Komali sat down and chose his character, waiting for three other people to join him. Soon, a Twili girl arrived and picked up the second controller.

"Hey." Komali greeted.

"I'm going to kick your ass." she replied.

"Uhh... okay? What's your name?"

"Midna."

Komali racked his brain for a few seconds. He knew for a fact that he had heard that name before, but he couldn't recall where. Was she one of his old school classmates?

"Are you one- you know what, never mind. I'm Komali."

"Komali.. Hey, aren't you the one that was in the truck with me?"

"Oh, that's where I know you from. Yeah, that was me. Link too."

"Regardless if you're the first person I met in this hellhole, I'm going to beat you."

Komali shook his head in anticipation as a Kokiri and Hylian arrived to play with him. As he looked up, he stared at them to try to see what kind of player they were. But, that's when he noticed. Although the Kokiri was a few face, one he hadn't seen before, he for certain noticed who the Hylian was.

Groose.

He shivered and kept quiet, consistently shifting glances towards him. Groose didn't seem to remember him, but he was still nervous.

* * *

After a few hours of playing the long match, Midna had won with six stars, Komali behind in second with five stars, Groose in third with three, and the Kokiri behind with one.

"The fuck?" Groose shouted. "How did I not win? You must've cheated!"

"Chill out, dude." the Kokiri replied. Groose pushed him out of the way and pointed straight at Komali and Midna. "I demand a rematch!"

"L-look, dude, I-i really want to, but I have somewhere to be." Komali stammered, trying not to piss him off.

"To hell you do!" Groose shouted, now attracting the attention of virtually everyone in the arcade.

"Okay, dude, look here." Midna replied. "You lost. Fair and square. Now, just deal with it. You're acting like a nine-year old. You can't solve all of your problems by throwing a tantrum. Now, put your smelly breath back into your disgusting mouth and get out of my sight."

Jeez. That was a little far, but Komali couldn't stay and watch the aftermath. He quickly darted out of the room as he heard several screaming matches from behind the closed door. Rushing to the mines, he almost fell down the ladder. Pushing aside the gravel, he saw the outline of his friends.

"Sup?" Link asked. "What's the matter? Did you run here?"

"Y-yeah. I did." He replied. "Ran into Groose in the arcade. Luckily, Midna was there, so she kind of took the fall for me. I'm pretty sure they're either still screaming at each other or ripping each other's guts out by now."

"I'd expect that." Link replied. "Those two are... quite the ruckus."

Zelda walked up to Komali and began telling him about the plan.

"Alright. So, first off, pay attention to Malon over there." she said. Komali did, and noticed the strange black gloves she was wearing.

"Is it about the gloves?" Komali replied. Zelda nodded. "She managed to break her bracelet. She has fire powers, and she can use that to aid in our escape."

Komali nodded.

"Here's our plan."

Zelda handed Komali a sheet of paper that had all the steps of the plan listed on it.

 **Step 1: Each person collect supplies**

Zelda: Water

Link: Clothes

Komali: Survival Tools

Malon: Food

 **Step 2: Wait until noon Sunday.**

 **Step 3: Gather at the Department Store**

 **Step 4: Place rubber tubing around inside of bracelet**

 **Step 5: Malon heats and rips off a vent cover**

 **Step 6: Travel through the vents until we reach the labs**

 **Step 7: Run until we find the exit**

 **Step 8: Fight if we have to!**

 **Step 9: Find nearest civilization**

"Why do we have to travel though the vents if we can just walk into the labs? Also, why will we wait until specifically Sunday?" Komali asked.

"They're holding a competition for the complex, and Vaati'll be distracted. Vaati announced that the labs will be closed during the competition, which means that there will likely be less people in there assuming we actually get inside. It's also likely that the exit is within the labs as well, as I saw no other unmarked doorway that wasn't some other facility besides what was in the labs."

"By the way," Malon started, turning to Komali. "What can you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been to the labs, right? What can you do?"

"Oh, I can make illusions as well as emit electricity. But, I'm not quite good at either. I need focus."

Malon nodded and turned to Link. "What about you?"

Link wiped his eyes. "Oh, don't worry about me. It won't be that helpful."

"Come on, just say it, Link." Zelda encouraged. "I'm sure it'll be useful to some extent."

"No, just leave me alone." Link demanded. Komali was taken aback by how defensive Link had become.

"You know what, fine." Zelda gave up. "Just follow my plan. Sunday is in two days. Everyone, work as hard as you can to build up enough credits to buy what we need."

Link and Komali nodded. Meanwhile, Malon sat down. Komali figured that since her bracelet was busted, she didn't have any way to make or spend any of the credits that she had. Heck, she couldn't even open most doors. But, there was nothing that Komali could do about it now.

* * *

Komali was in the department store with Malon, searching for anything useful.

"Thanks for tagging along, Malon." Komali said.

"No problemo. I already have all the food ready, and I really have nothing to do or nowhere to go."

Komali searched around the tool section for anything that he thought may be useful. He tried looking for camping gear earlier, but there was none given that no one would have any use of it within the facility. There also weren't any blatant weapons, such as knives, hammers, or guns, anywhere in the store. So far, Komali had some parachute cord, a first-aid kit, and a flashlight in his backpack.

"That'll be useful." Komali said, grabbing a couple boxes of matches off the shelf. "Malon, do you have any idea of what else will be useful?"

"Water canteens?" Malon replied. "And maybe those drops that you put in water to purify it? What is it called? Eye of dyne?"

"You mean iodine."

"Yeah."

Komali searched around the miscellaneous section of the store and found a bottle of iodine. He shoved it into his backpack without a second thought.

"Oh. Compass would be helpful."

* * *

After a couple minutes of scrambling, Komali had believed that he had grabbed everything of importance. In his bag, he had a flashlight, parachute cord, first-aid kit, matches, candles, iodine, compass, a whistle, umbrellas, canteens, baby wipes, a blanket, and a couple of Ziplock bags.

"I think this is everything." he said, finally scanning his merchandise. "We should have a knife or something, but I guess we could raid the factory or kitchen later."

Malon patted the back of her head. "God, we better not screw this up."


	12. Chapter 12

**Arc 1: The Aura Complex**

 **Chapter 12: Doomsday**

* * *

 _ **~Zelda~**_

It was time. Doomsday. The day that will decide if they live in this complex forever, or gain the ability of free travel and free rights. The day that everything falls down around them. The day that she sees for the first time the world that she left behind. The day that they escape.

Zelda could not afford to mess up on this escape. If the plan was thwarted, they would be severely punished. It was unlikely that Vaati would execute them, but there was no doubt that all four of them would end up in solitary, likely for weeks on end. The repercussions... would not be good. This had to be flawless. No matter what.

She had called everyone to the dining hall at 7 AM. They needed to stuff themselves as much as they could, as when they escape, they would most likely be without money or food for days, and they would need to conserve the canned and jarred food for as long as possible. Currently, it was 6:30, and she had thirty minutes to kill. Looking to her left, she saw Malon still asleep on her bed. Wanting to let her sleep and be as comfortable as possible before the escape, she instead headed to the dorm bathrooms to take a shower, brush her teeth, and do her typical morning routine.

* * *

Zelda, Link, Malon, and Komali waited in line in the dining hall. They were all obviously nervous and on edge, as they couldn't afford to make any mistakes. Even if Vaati didn't sentence them to a bad punishment, they would still have used up all of their credits and the security would be increased. It would be likely that it would be years before they had an opportunity to escape again.

"What do you want, Malon?" Zelda asked, looking up at the food selections. Over time, the quality of the food options had began to diminish, likely because Vaati and the runners of the facility wanted the Auras to work to get into the buffet and restaurant. The first four days, the food was gourmet-quality. But after that, it slowly began dropping to school-cafeteria quality. Definitely not desirable, but Zelda was not willing to spend that amount of credits on a restaurant.

She looked up at the menu.

 **Today's Breakfast Menu**

 **Egg and Toast**

 **Granola Cereal**

 **Fresh Fruit with Yoghurt**

 **Drinks: Milk, Orange Juice, Coffee**

"I think I want the egg." Malon replied. Zelda settled on the fruit as it would be difficult to mess it up. The crappy food just fueled her desire to leave. All four of them sat down at a vacant table, but no one really said anything. They had all agreed that they would head to their hidden room in the mines right after their meal, but the current atmosphere was way to tense and oppressive to talk about anything other than their escape plan. Everything looked different today, as it was the day that everything would change, for better or for worse. After everyone had cleared their plates, they each stood up and returned to line in order to get a second meal. Nothing really interesting happened, they all just sat... and ate.

All four now stood on the inside of the hidden room. Zelda quickly sealed up the room as she began talking.

"Final sweep. Give me the list of everything that you have gathered." Zelda commanded. Everyone took out a sheet of paper and began reading off it. Komali began.

"I-i have: First aid-kit, iodine tablets, flashlight, parachute cord, matches, candles, compass, umbrella, whistles, canteens, baby wipes, plastic bags, plastic containers, and a multitool."

Malon rubbed her nose. "I have: Four cans of tuna, four cans of salmon, four canned luncheon meat, two jars of pickles, four bags of beef jerky, canned salmon, jarred pears, canned beans, powdered milk, and rice."

Link followed up last. "I just got some outfits for everyone."

He pulled out eight clothing sets, two for each person. Zelda was still wearing her initial outfit, but the other clothes that Link had picked out for her were also casual and easy to move around in. She neglected to pay enough attention to the other outfits for Malon and Komali, but it wasn't really important. Zelda had the very difficult task of collecting as many water bottles as possible. Remembering back to yesterday, she believed that she had around twenty bottles in her backpack back in her room. She had also allowed everyone to get one item that they wanted just for luxury. Although she didn't know what the others picked, Zelda had chosen to bring the novel that she had been reading.

"The Aura Complex Competition starts at eleven today, and it's going to be live streamed to the lounge until two. We should sit down and watch until it reaches noon, just so we know what areas to avoid."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"Let me reiterate. First, we watch the competition from eleven to noon. Then, we grab our bags and go to the second floor of the department store. Malon will rip off the vent with her fire powers, and then we'll crawl through the vents. Then, we'll travel through the vents to the labs, where we'll search the labs for the doorway. If we have to fight to escape, we should. While I don't condone killing anyone, I'm willing to risk it if they're trying to attack you. Deal?"

"Deal." the three said in unison. Malon reached into her jean pocket and pulled out a few pieces of rubber tubing. The thickness was perfect to slide it under the bracelet, and for it to cover enough skin to prevent getting zapped. She distributed it to the three of them as they slid it underneath their bracelet.

"Great job, Malon. For now, everyone, gather in my room." Zelda said. "Bring your backpacks."

* * *

In due time, everyone was inside of Zelda and Malon's room. Once again, everyone was speechless. No one had anything interesting to say. Everyone just looked down at their feet and idled their time for the next hours, until 10:45. From there, Zelda directed everyone to go to the lounge to watch the competition.

The lounge was more crowded than Zelda had ever seen. Almost everyone from the complex was there, and sitting in the comfortable lounge chairs and benches. Every spot was filled, and several more were standing, all looking towards the screen.

"I guess we're going to have to stand." Zelda said. They all stood right in front of the fireplace, which had a television screen above it. To not look suspicious, Zelda began striking up a conversation.

"What do you think the competition will be like?" she asked.

"Well, I think it's just going to be a bunch of random challenges." Komali replied. "Sounds fun."

"If we weren't doing... this... I'd really like to compete." Link said. "I don't want to lose the opportunity, though."

Just then, the TV lit up, and everyone shut up to gaze directly at the screen. Vaati appeared on it.

 ** _"Hello everyone, and welcome to the first Aura Complex Competition! Ten brave volunteers have chosen to participate in this game for five thousand credits! First, time for the rules of this game!_**

 ** _We will participate in ten distinctly different challenges with very different rules. The person who loses each challenge will be kicked off the competition, and have to spend the rest of the competition inside of our Loser's Room."_**

The screen cut to a new room, which was completely run down. It was the size of a normal dorm room, but had eight beds jammed in it instead of the normal two. She could almost smell the musty aroma that fit the room. That would definitely not be fun. But, that wasn't the important part of why they were watching. The important part was the location of the first challenge. After that, they would leave for the department store.

 _ **"Time to meet our competitors."**_

Vaati listed off a bunch of people that Zelda did not recognize. But then, a name popped up that rung a bell.

 _ **"Midna Lament"**_

Zelda leaned off to Komali and Link. "Isn't that the girl that you shared the truck with?"

Link and Komali nodded simultaneously. Zelda had nothing more to say as she turned back to the screen. Two more people were listed off. But, the last competitor..."

 _ **"Groose Prescott"**_

Oh, god. Him. Zelda hoped that he lost first, but she probably wouldn't stay long enough to see. Zelda just stood at the screen, watching as Vaati interviewed each of the competitors. But, then she realized the moment that she had been waiting for was approaching and paid better attention. Everyone was gathered in the auditorium.

 _ **"It's time for our first challenge!"**_ he enthusiastically said. A projector screen dropped which rolled through a selection of challenges. Once it stopped, one word was displayed.

"MINES".

 _ **"Your first challenge will be the Mining challenge! Each of you will enter the mines and collect ores. Once you've gotten 200 credits worth of ores, give them to me to finish the challenge! However, if you're the last one, you will lose the challenge."**_

Then, Vaati led the competitors to the mines. Zelda waited until the footage displayed everyone far inside of the mines lobby. She leaned into the other three. "Now's our chance!"

Zelda tried her best to leave unsuspiciously. They returned to Zelda's room, where everyone picked up their backpacks. From there, they silently made their way into the department store, onto the second floor. Everyone gathered around the vent, which was at crawl level.

"Is everyone ready?" She asked. Everyone nodded. "Last chance. If you need anything, go get it now."

No one stirred. She turned to Malon. "Malon? Do the honors."

Malon nodded in determination and ripped off her gloves to reveal her still-glowing hands. She gripped the edges of the vent, which turned hot after a couple of seconds holding it. In time, it was soft enough to take the vent cover off of the vent itself. With that, Malon put her gloves back on. Following Malon, Zelda got on her hands and knees and began crawling through the rather cramped vent. It was shallow enough that she needed to bend her arms and extend her knees a few feet back, and squished enough that she could feel both sides of the vent on her shoulders. She wasn't about to let that stop her, however. With that, she heard two more metallic sounds, which signified Link, and Komali following.

"Remind me, what's the game plan?" Link asked, arms banging against the metal walls. Zelda internally facepalmed.

"We find a way into the labs, and then find our way out through there."

"Remind me again, why can't we just find our way out through the vents itself? It has to leave outside, right?"

"Yeah, but there are several fans. We'll get chopped to bits."

The group was silent for a few minutes while crawling through the vents. But, the silence was broken by a loud alarm sound. Zelda gripped her ears and cringed.

 ** _ATTENTION ALL AURA COMPLEX CITIZENS. INITIATING LOCKDOWN. EVERYONE RETURN TO ROOMS IN TEN MINUTES OR LESS OR FACE PUNISHMENT. WE REPEAT, RETURN TO ROOMS IN TEN MINUTES OR LESS OR FACE PUNISHMENT. ROOMS WILL BE LOCKED AND CHECKED. ANYONE WHO IS NOT PRESENT IN THE ROOMS WILL FACE PUNISHMENT._**

"They must've realized it." Komali said. "Stealth isn't going to work today. We have to fight."

Zelda nodded and continued crawling through the vents. "Chances are, they know exactly where we left, and they'll be following us. We'll be at a disadvantage if we stay in the vents. We need to exit as fast as we can."

After a half minute of crawling through the cramped tunnels like a spider through a hole in the wall, Zelda saw some light on her left side through a vent cover. Peeking through, she couldn't tell where it was. She stood there for a bit, then moved out of the way so Malon could handle it. She gripped and heated up the vent cover and pushed it into the new room. Leaping out, Zelda heard the sound of her feet hitting the floor. She followed suit, with both Komali and Link following.

Where was she? It wasn't any kind of room that she'd visited before. Looking around, she realized that this was the gym.

"Link!" Zelda urged.

"What?"

"Destroy the cameras!"

Link jumped up and pulled the lone surveillance camera off the corner of the room. Grabbing a dumbbell, he placed it on a utility bench and smashed it to pieces. Malon and Komali worked together to shove dumbbells into the vent to slow down anyone who was following them.

"Malon! Seal the vent cover back up!"

Malon used her gloved hand to pick up the vent cover, and then used her ungloved right hand to trace around the sides of it and fuse the metal back to the wall.

"What do we do now?" Komali asked.

"I guess... we just have to fight our way to the labs." Zelda replied, fingers to her chin. "We need to make our way to the factory. I'm sure we could remove our bracelets there and use our powers."

"Can't I just take it off?" Malon asked. "I mean, I took it off of my own wrist."

Zelda looked down and saw sparks coming out of her bracelet, hitting the rubber tubing and bouncing back outwards.

 _They're trying to zap us._ Zelda thought.

"Zelda?" Malon asked again. "Did you hear my question?"

"Oh, yeah. It's just kind of dangerous for us, y'know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're immune to your own heat, I guess. But, if you were to try to take off our bracelets, we'd be at risk of being seriously burnt."

"Eh. Good point."

Link grabbed a dumbbell before the group of four left the gym for the pool.

"HEY!" a voice sounded. Everyone turned as a group of four redshirts arrived at the pool area.

"Fight!" Link commanded. Everyone got into stances and split up to deal with them. Zelda was on the side of the poolside, positioned to fight this man. She swung at his face, but he ducked. The man pulled out what looked like a stun gun and aimed right for Zelda's chest. Realizing what was happening, Zelda sidestepped him as the shot hit the meta lifeguard's chair. Observing the electricity climbing up and down the chair, an idea popped into her head. She swiftly ran around the redshirt and grabbed the end of the stun gun, pointing it away from her face. Kicking the redshirt in the leg, she wrestled the stun gun away from his grip and shoved him into the pool. She aimed for the pool and fired the gun, shocking everything in the water. The redshirt went limp.

"Guys!" she shouted. "Get them in the water!"

Observing everyone else's actions, Malon didn't seem to be needing it. She had her hand outstretched, creating a constant stream of fire that was scorching her enemy. Link and Komali, meanwhile, were struggling. Link seemed to be overpowered, and was backed into the corner, and Komali was already shocked by the stun gun while the redshirt's foot was stomping on his back, preventing him from moving.

Meanwhile, Malon finally let up. The redshirt dove into the water, desperate to put out the fire from his clothes and hair. Zelda used this opportunity to shock the water again, taking out their second enemy.

"Malon! Help Komali! I'll take care of Link!"

Malon and Zelda went in opposite directions. Zelda ran up to Link's attacker and jumped on his back. She covered his eyes and put him in a choke hold. Meanwhile, Link recovered enough to swing the dumbbell at the redshirt's face. He got knocked out cold, which prompted Link and Zelda to roll him into the pool. They shocked the water again. Meanwhile, Malon and Komali had somehow worked together to knock out the last redshirt.

Malon walked over to Zelda and collapsed on her shoulder.

"I'm so tired..." she trailed. Link grabbed Malon's other shoulder and began walking her out of the door. Together, they limped to the factory. Link grabbed an iron rod and wedged it in the handles of the factory door, effectively locking it.

"Alright, Zelda." Link said. "How are we going to get these things off?"

Link put his left hand and shook it in front of Zelda's face. Zelda turned around and thought for a few minutes, pacing back and forth across the factory.

"What if we-"

She stopped talking after noticing Link's hand in the hydraulic press.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

Link replied by sliding his hand out of the press, bracelet broken. He tore off the crushed remains and flexed his wrist.

"That was so risky, Link. I'm not proud of you."

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Yes, but you could've crushed and lost your left hand!"

"What do you expect me to do?"

"The water pressure cutter could've been so much safer!"

In response, Zelda turned on the pressure cutter and slowly moved her wrist into the extremely fast stream of water. The laser-thin stream of water cut her bracelet with enough precision to leave no scratch on her own skin. She got Komali to come over, and cut off his bracelet as well.

"What do we do now?" Link asked.

"Why don't we assess everyone's abilities? It'd be great if we all understood what everyone could do." Malon suggested.

"No, we don't have time for that." Zelda replied. "We just have to get our way to the labs, and then find the exit. If we dilly dattle, we'll get captured for sure. Then, we can assess everyone's abilities for our journey out of Hyrule."

No one complained, but Zelda could easily tell that Link was feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Whatever. She'll find out later.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door to the factory began banging against the iron bar that Link had placed there. As sturdy as the bar was, there was no doubt that it would break or fall out eventually.

"We need to destroy the cameras. The cameras of every room we're in."

Komali nodded as he flew up to the corner of the two-story high room, and smacked the camera down, which smashed against the concrete floor into shards.

"It's been so long since I've been able to fly," he said in relief, flexing his wings. Zelda looked around the room for an escape route. Her eyes settled on the vent, close to the ceiling of the factory.

"Komali, do you think you can get us up there?" Zelda asked, pointing to the vent.

"I think I can..." he replied. Malon grabbed Komali's foot with her gloved hand, and then he hoisted her up to the vent cover. She ripped it off, and Komali then flung her inside. Komali came back down for Link, and then Zelda. After everyone was securely inside of the vents and a few crawls inside, Zelda heard the factory door burst open.

"Crawl faster, crawl faster!" Zelda urged. Everyone scrambled until Malon broke the next vent cover into the kitchen. Everyone stepped down, except for Komali.

"Komali, what're you doing?" Zelda asked.

"They're following us!"

Zelda peeked inside of the vent and looked at the small spaces through Komali. Sure enough, there were people crawling through it, chasing them.

"In that case, we gotta go fast!" Link urged.

"What are you doing?" Malon scolded, still staring at the unmoving Komali. Komali stuck his hand in the air, and then smashed his palm against the metal vent cover. Several sparks of electricity flew out of his hand, flowing into the vent. Zelda heard a few screams and jolts of electricity, and then a few slams against the floor of the vent.

"Great idea." Zelda said. Looking behind her, Malon had already destroyed the camera for the kitchen, and Link had replaced his dumbbell with a knife.

"The labs are right behind us." Link said. "At this point, since everyone's already alerted, it'll probably be easier for us to just barge into the doors to the labs, than try to go through the vents."

"Link, that is the smartest thing I have ever heard you say." Zelda replied. Link smirked.

The group ran outside of the kitchen and raced towards the lab doors. Simply trying the doors, Zelda saw that it was locked.

"Malon!" she commanded. Malon took off her gloves and placed her hands on the doors. However, these doors did not budge. Nothing happened. Komali then destroyed the camera closest to the labs, and then waved his hands in the direction of the rest of the hallway. A separate segment of wall appeared that looked to box them in, that looked eerily similar to the wall with the lab door..

"What did you just do?" Link asked.

"I created an illusion to make a fake wall, so they won't be able to see us when they just glance down the hall."

Zelda banged on the door, which still wouldn't budge. "Link, hand me the knife."

Link gave Zelda the knife. She wedged it between the gap in the door, and then pushed it upwards. She felt something unlatch. Now, she turned the knob and pulled outwards, which allowed the door to open. Everyone rushed inside, and then rushed inside of the elevator as everyone had been inside every room on this floor. Zelda pressed the ground floor button. Going downwards, everyone shuddered in anticipation. The doors opened, revealing an office lobby-like room that seemed much more cozy than the complex above.

"This is insane." Link sputtered. Zelda couldn't help but agree. Looking around, Zelda spotted one thing, the only thing that she needed. An exit sign, right above a doorway. Everyone turned and darted for the doorway. But, one thing happened that she did not expect. The doorway swung open, revealing a man in purple attire, standing directly in their way.

"Where do you think you're going?"

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, sorry for missing last week. Next chapter will be the last chapter in the Aura Complex Arc. Please, follow, favorite, or review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Arc 1: Aura Complex**

 **Chapter 13: The Final Stretch**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

"Where do you think you're going?" Vaati asked. Everyone stared at him. "I have to give you props for making it this far. I assumed that this fortress would be impenetrable. Impossible to get in, impossible to get out. But, it seems, I was proven wrong."

"What, are you going to kill us now?" Link asked.

"No. Not yet, I suppose. I'll give you one last chance to turn around, and reenter the Aura Complex. No punishment, no hate, no grudges. You can happily live forever in the complex."

Link glanced to Zelda, Malon, and Komali. He could tell by their faces that no one was considering taking up his offer.

"I'm sorry, but we're going to have to deny." Link courageously said.

"Why don't we all settle down, and talk for a bit. Maybe I can persuade you. Don't worry, I won't bring out the redshirts. No harm will come to you. I'm not in the mood for a fight right now. Just an exchange of words"

Link was still skeptical, but Link didn't see any harm in just talking. Besides, Vaati was still standing between them and the exit. He didn't want to take his chances after glancing at the gun on his right pocket.

"What are you going to say to us?!" Zelda shouted.

"This Hyrule... it's not like the one you left."

"What do you mean?" Komali replied.

"Remember the war? The battles that you got caught up in before you arrived here?"

"What about that? Just get to the point already!" Link scolded.

"Let's just say... it's over now."

"Y-You lie!" Komali scolded, hands in fists. . "There's no way a war could be over in less than three weeks! Especially not one that intense!"

"You don't even know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"The strength of our leader."

"Your leader...?" Link repeated.

"Does that mean..." Zelda trailed. "That North Hyrule won?"

Vaati turned his back to the four. "I won't confirm nor deny your conclusions. I just wanted to let you know... that the world outside has changed. Not to mention, we've got files on you. On who you all are. If you reenter the outside world, the authorities won't just drag you back here. They'll kill you."

Link was taken aback. What this man was saying definitely seemed ludicrous, but he seemed... rather sincere. He sounded extremely truthful.

"Trust me, living a life here is much preferable to living a life out there. The citizens of Hyrule would kill, literally kill, to live the life you have in here. Everyone has a place to sleep, everyone is fed, everyone is entertained, everyone is occupied. Meanwhile, your homes are destroyed. You have no place to return to, even if you manage to avoid the police and military"

"But..." Link started. "To live a life in here, cooped up with no freedom.. I just can't take it!"

"You won't have any freedom out in the real world, either. But... I'm kind enough to let you choose. Like I said earlier, I'm not in the mood for a fight. If you want to leave, I won't stop you. My offer still stands until you leave the building. I've even commanded the redshirts to allow you to leave if you so desire. We won't chase you once you leave. But, keep in mind, if you do leave, the deal is off. Would you really want to live a life on the run? On the run from authorities, in a world where getting caught will result in your death? Do you really want to take that risk? You _will_ want to crawl back here, and you _will_ regain your communal lives with everyone else in the facility. But, we won't let you. Our only option then will be... execution"

With that, Vaati began walking directly in their directions, shoved Link and Komali out of his way, and entered the elevator. Link turned to the other three.

"He wasn't being serious, right?" Malon asked. "He was just trying to scare us, right? Right?"

"I sensed... truthfulness in his voice." Komali said. Link agreed.

"Even so, we have to go through with this." Zelda replied. "This is possibly our only way of escape."

"So what?" Komali asked, faced towards the elevator. "So what if this is our only way of escape?"

Link was taken aback by his behavior. "K-Komali?"

"You heard what he said. We have no families, and if he's telling the truth, we could just sacrifice a perfectly good life here in the Complex."

"Perfectly good? No, Komali, he's gotten to you!" Malon exclaimed. "Don't you see? He's clouding your mind!"

Link was distressed. Zelda and Malon were still determined to leave. Were they going to lose Komali?

"No, I'm positive he was telling the truth. This facility is the only place we can call home. No one's been hurt. No one's been oppressed. If we all just return to our rooms, we can live here like nothing has ever happened." he said.

"What about your hopes and dreams?" Zelda tried to persuade.

"I can't accomplish any of my hopes or dreams regardless."

Link gripped Komali's wrist. "Just come with u-"

"ENOUGH!" He shouted, sending a large jolt of electricity down Link's forearm. He was blasted back and hit his back on the corner of the room. The lights began flickering as tears began streaming down Komali's face.

"You guys do whatever you want. I won't stop you. I'll be upset to lose you. But, I am not stepping back into that tainted world!"

With that, Komali dropped his backpack, turned around and stepped towards the elevator. "Goodbye."

He turned around and fiddled with a few buttons as the door closed.

"We-we can't let him stop us." Link said, on the verge of tears. "If we make him come with us, he won't be happy. We have to do what's best and let him stay here."

"But," Malon started, also tearing up. "We can't just leave him behind!"

"Malon, he _wants_ to stay behind. We have to appreciate his decision. It's his choice to make, not ours. He decides his own fate."

Zelda gripped his arm and pulled him up from the corner of the room. "Onward, I guess." she said, wiping her own face and picking up Komali's backpack.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking and exploring the halls of this office-like floor, the group of three finally stood in front of the humongous door of what they presumed to be the exit.

"This is it, huh?" Zelda said. "No going back. The only way to move... is forwards."

"I'm prepared." Link said. "From this day forth, we will be labeled as delinquents. Our lives will change, for better or for worse."

"I have nothing inspirational to say," Malon sniffled. "Let's just do this already."

Everyone held hands together as Zelda pressed the automatic door button. The humongous door began to unlatch, and turn, revealing a snowy courtyard surrounded in barbed wire fences. Beyond the fences was a parking lot with a road, but everything else seemed untouched by society. On the left was a snowy forest, and on the right was a frozen lake. Currently, it looked like a blizzard.

"S-Snow?" Link asked, somewhat shocked.

"What?" Zelda asked, shivering. "Is there something weird?"

"Where the hell are we?" Link rhetorically questioned. "Lurelin never gets snow, it's like seventy-eighty degrees year round. How far are we?"

Malon shrugged. "We are not prepared for this. I'm in jeans and a blouse."

Link dropped his bag and rummaged around it. Never expecting to enter the snow, Link had not prepared for extremely cold weather. He had absolutely nothing to help them. Helpless, he took the first step outside, out of the facility.

"It's nice to see the sky again, don't you think?" He asked. Zelda and Malon nodded, following him outside of the facility. Link wrapped his arms around the two girls for warmth as they trotted towards the gate. Closely approaching it, he noted that it was covered by three locks of hard steel.

"M-Malon?" Link shivered. "Can you do the h-honors?"

Malon ripped off her gloves and walked up to the steel locks. Right as she was prepared to grab them and melt them off of the gate that was keeping them blocked off from the rest of the world, the one obstacle between them and freedom, a condescending voice called out from behind them.

"Get over here. It's my turn now."

"Huh?" Link squealed. He racked his brain. That was definitely a boy's voice, but was much deeper than Komali's voice, and Vaati already had no reason to follow them outside or threaten them in any way. Plus, it seemed much more... familiar than any of the redshirts, most of which he had only met once or not met at all. He scowled as he realized the truth. He turned around to face his one rival in the facility. The red-haired idiotic jock himself.

Groose.

"What are you doing here, Groose?" Link shouted. Malon and Zelda also turned around to face him.

"I'm here.. for my revenge."

"Revenge?" Malon asked. "Revenge for what?"

"Zip it, dumbass!" Groose scolded, in a voice of pure anger. Link shivered when both of Groose's deadly eyes locked on him, both from the cold and from the situation.

Link locked eyes with him. "Groose, I'm sorry for everything that happened. But we can put that behind us. I don't mind if you want to escape, but just get out of our way!"

"You tormented me. You made me a fool among the people of the complex. Hell, they even posted a picture of me on the pamphlet after our fight. I'm the laughing stock of the facility, with no escape! Do you know how torturous that was?"

"Groose, I'm sorry! But that, that's on you! That's on you for harassing my friends! But, once again, I'm willing to put that behind us. We can escape together, and then go our separate ways and never see each other again. Vanished from each other's lives. You want that, don't you?!"

Groose clenched his fists and eyelids. "You're right. I do want you out of my life." He lifted up his right fist, revealing the lack of a bracelet. "Permanently."

With that, Groose darted straight for Link. The two girls scrambled in opposite directions. Luckily, with his weight, Groose wasn't very fast as Link was much more agile than him. He sidestepped, causing Groose to ram straight into the barbed wire gate behind them. He roared in pain as he stood up and ripped the barbed wire out of his face and body.

 _Shit. He's an Aura, so I'm already at a major disadvantage. I have no clue what he could do, and I don't want him pulling surprises on me, so I'll have to stall until he reveals his power._

Groose ran after Link, shooting hooks and uppercuts towards his face. Luckily, Link could backpedal fast enough to narrowly avoid Groose's attacks. Link backed up until he was against the wall of the Aura Complex.

"Got you now, fucker!" Groose shouted, throwing a punch directly at Link's face. Link ducked and weaved out of the corner. Groose's fist instead collided with the wall of the Aura Complex, leaving a couple of major cracks in the impact zone.

 _...Strength?_

"Dammit!" Groose shouted, getting frustrated with his punches missing. He began chasing Link around the courtyard trying to grab him. Link's speed wasn't enough this time, as Groose gripped him by the neck and held him in the air. Link clawed at Groose's hand at his neck, slowly choking him to death. Link's world became filled with pain and dark spots in his vision. He could feel his head rushing with uncirculating blood.

"Fucker." Groose shouted, this time tightening his grip on Link's neck. "You made my life a living hell. Now, I think it's time I send you to the real one. Sweet. Karma."

Link's world went black. He couldn't see anything. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't feel anything. He couldn't think. But, all that changed with a sudden impact to his legs and knees. He clawed at his now released neck, gasping for oxygen. Turning around to see what happened, he saw Groose's clothes on fire as well as Malon, standing directly in front of the gate.

"You little whore bitchlet, I'll kill you once I'm done with my top priority." he said, turning around to get Malon in his field of vision. Luckily, Malon distracted Groose enough for Zelda to slide between them. As Groose turned back around to throw another punch, Zelda put out her hands as a bluish-tint shield appeared. Groose's fist collided with the shield. Groose's sheer strength wasn't strong enough to break through Zelda's force field as he reeled backwards, screaming and clutching his left fist. Malon responded by throwing another fireball at Groose, who rolled around in the snow to put it out. As a result, Groose was covered in water from the snow and Malon's heat. Link couldn't even imagine the cold that Groose was feeling right now, but now wasn't the time to think about it. From the looks of it, this confrontation was one of life or death. Link wasn't going to get zapped and hauled off to solitary. He wasn't going to get handcuffed and sent to jail. At this point, it's his life, or Groose's. And he wasn't willing to sacrifice himself for this. He was so close to leaving this facility for good.

Groose stood up and wiped his face, shivering from the cold but otherwise unfazed. He grabbed one of the poles that stabilized the fence and tore it off its foundation. Malon ran up to him and tried to burn him, but Groose used the pole to smack her out of the way and onto the floor. She didn't move after that, hopefully only unconscious. Zelda projected another shield, this time larger than the one before. Groose tried to swerve around her, but she turned the shield towards Groose's body no matter where he went.

"Look, girl, I don't want to hurt you. Let me get the boy, and we can live together for the rest of our lives in peace."

 _Oh, my Nayru._ Link thought. _Even in the midst of all this, he's still trying to hit on her?_

"I will never go out with you, Groose." She replied. However, Link noticed that Zelda's reply seemed to distract her and lower the opacity of her shield, which seemed more clear than before. Groose saw this chance and smashed the pole against the shield, shattering it. Zelda fell backwards, exhausted, as he approached Link. Groose swung at his sides, with Link barely sidestepping. The pole hit another fence pole, which bent it like putty and disfiguring the fence.

"It's just you and me, kid!" he shouted in a voice of pure anger. Link, in response, picked up a bunch of snow and bundled it up into a snowball. He chucked it at Groose, hitting him square in the face.

"Heh. Is that the best you can do?" Groose asked. He then formed a snowball, and chucked it at Link's leg. When it hit, it hit with enough force to induce major pain and vibrated up and down his leg. Link fell to the ground. Pulling up his pant leg, he saw a huge red welt on it, some blood even oozing out. It made him more nauseous than he already was.

"Groose." Link muttered, in pure despair. His eyes darted to the unconscious Malon and Zelda, both half-covered in the snow. "Please. Think about this. What good would killing me do for you? "

"The satisfaction of revenge." Groose replied. Link could almost see hellfire in his eyes. "You tortured me, Link. Solitary was horrible. I can still feel the embarrassment of the people of the complex. I have to stop you from doing this again."

Just then, a random bolt of lightning came out of the blizzard, and struck down on Groose. Groose collapsed on his back, pole falling out of his hand.

"Oh. Justifying your actions?" a voice said. Link looked towards the door to see the silver-haired Rito. Groose got back on his feet, but Komali shot a couple of bolts out of his hands to stun Groose. Link, using this chance, picked up the pole that Groose was using and clobbered it over his head. Groose collapsed, not moving. A small patch of snow around his head was stained blood red. But the biggest part, was that he shut his eyes and didn't move.

 _Did I just kill him?_ Link thought. He bent over the body and pressed his fingers against Groose's wrist. Thankfully, he still had a pulse. Now, he turned his attention over to the awaiting Rito.

"Komali? You came back!"

"Yeah. After making that scene, I just returned to the lounge and sat there for the next hour, not knowing what to do. I was stuck between decisions. Freedom and danger, or no freedom and safety? I couldn't decide. In the end, I decided that a life with no freedom, isn't really life at all. My decision was solidified when I saw Groose pass through the lobby. Luckily, he didn't see me, but I heard him muttering about how he was going to get revenge and kill the one standing between him and his soulmate. I knew that would not be good. I just couldn't stand to lose you. You three are all I have in this world."

Link shed a few tears and stood up, despite the pain in his leg. He limped over to Komali and gave him a huge bear hug, then released.

"So... what now?" Komali asked.

"Malon was originally going to melt the locks on the gate, but now..."

Link and Komali gazed over at Malon's unconscious body. "I don't think we can do that now."

"Eh, that's not a problem."

"Huh? Why not?"

Komali responded by spreading his wings, picking up Link with his feet, and flying over the barbed wire fence. He dropped Link on the other side.

"Oh. Right." Link replied. He waited until Komali brought over Malon and Zelda.

"Let's start walking. You carry Malon, I'll carry Zelda." Link ordered. Komali grabbed Malon."

"Augh!" He shouted, taking his hands off of Malon's wrist. He plunged his hand into the snow to help the burn. "Can you help me put gloves on this girl?"

After a few minutes of putting gloves on Malon's hands, they were finally able to carry them with little issue other than pain and fatigue.

"Where are we headed?" Komali asked.

"As for that, I'm not sure." Link replied. "Guess we're going to wait until the girls wake up."

And with that, Link and Komali limped into the forest for shelter, with the stone complex slowly fading behind them.

* * *

 _ **~Zelda~**_

Zelda's eyes fluttered open. She sat up, and looked around, expecting to see Groose and Link still fighting in the complex courtyard. But instead, she saw nothing of the sort. She was sitting on some kind of flat log, and surrounded by trees, all covered in snow. But, to her left, she saw a snowy clearing. In the middle of the clearing, was a campfire. Link, Komali, and Malon sat besides it, talking about something that she could not perceive.

"Zelda. Are you alright?" Komali asked.

"You're back?" she asked. "Didn't you want to stay at the Aura Complex?"

Zelda sat down as Komali told her about what happened.

"But for now, my story is irrelevant. What we need now, is your guidance." Komali said.

"As for now, I don't really have a plan. We don't know where we are."

With that, Zelda stood up and picked up her backpack. "Let's go."

"Let's go?" Link asked. "We don't even know where we're going!"

Zelda just started walking, ignoring Link's complaints. With that, the other three had no choice but to follow. Pushing her way through the brush and foliage, she encountered what looked like some kind of small roads, each end leading out into nothingness. She waited for everyone to arrive at this ominous road and then gripped their hands, forming a chain.

"To civilization." she said.

"To the future." Link replied.

And with that, Zelda and the other three began walking along the road, vanishing into the snowy unknown.

* * *

Vaati sat at his desk, conducting some computer work.

*BRRRRIIIINNNNGGG!*

Sighing, he picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Vaati..." the caller said. "I have some reports of a break-out at the Aura Complex. Care to elaborate?"

"About that... five subjects managed to escape."

"Five?" the caller asked. "Five? FIVE?"

"Relax. We still have the other two hundred forty-five subjects,"

"That's not important. I made a major risk, conducting this experiment, bringing the subjects to the Aura Complex. I spent millions, and I mean MILLIONS, building that facility and boosting security. And you're telling me that not just one, but FIVE SUBJECTS managed to escape!"

"I understand your anger, my lord, but-"

"Do you even know what you could have just done?"

"Excuse me? I don't think it's that big of a deal, my lord. Even if they talk about what went down here, no one will believe them. If they try to use their abilities, they'll get found and executed."

"No. One of those five could've been the one prophesied to take down my reign. Please, tell me the descriptions of each of the escapees."

Vaati typed something on his computer and picked up a few files. "Number 1: Zelda Harkinian. Long, blonde hair, medium height. Race: Hylian. Powers: Shield, and possible primary power.

Number 2: Malon Lon. Medium length, red hair, medium height. Race: Hylian. Powers: Fire.

Number 3: Groose Prescott. Long-ish, red hair, tall, muscular. Race: Hylian. Powers: Strength.

Number 4: Link Shields. Short, blonde hair, tall-medium height. Race: Hylian. Powers: None, control subject

Number 5: Komali Quill. Medium length, grey, hair, short-medium height. Race: Rito. Powers: Electricity, Illusions."

"Hmm... interesting." The caller remarked. "Thank you, Vaati. I now know who to look out for."

"You are welcome, my lord."

"You are now relieved from duty."

The caller hung up on him, as Vaati sighed and placed the phone on the table.

* * *

 **End of Arc 1**


	14. Chapter 14

**Arc 2: On the Run**

 **Chapter 14: Trail to Civilization**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

Everyone was shivering, huddling together like a pack of sausages in order to fight the intense cold through this snowy forest road, especially with no winter clothes. So far, they had not found any cities, towns, or any signs that gave way to any large settlements. How long had they been walking now? The fight with Groose was around one or two in the morning, but now the sun had set and the darkest night that Link had ever experienced was upon them. No one decided to bring a watch or anything, and this walk felt like it dragged on forever. No one had enough energy to talk or do anything but just walk as far as they could. Link's body still ached from the wounds that he had sustained fighting Groose, but all he could do was follow the road.

Looking up into the darkness, the moonlight illuminated the forest enough to reveal what looked like an isolated cabin. Link, without the energy to talk, tapped everyone's shoulders and frantically pointed at the cabin.

"A cabin? out here?" Malon asked, clearly without much energy.

"We should knock and ask if they could let us stay there for the night." Zelda said, shivering. "If not, see if they could give us any winter supplies."

Link and the other three Auras walked up the creaky steps and rapped on the door. "H-hello?"

No response. He knocked on the door once again. "Hello?"

At the silence once again, Link decided to try the doorknob.

"It's unlocked." he said, stepping into the doorway. The other three came inside. Link flipped a light switch to illuminate the one-room cabin. It was completely run down. The carpet and walls had mold stains, all the windows were cracked, and most of the wood planks that constructed the house had rotted away. He couldn't get past the musty smell in the air, but this was definitely preferable to the frostshow outside. A few of the cabin's good elements was the fact that there were no holes in the walls or ceilings, it seemed to have somewhat functional electricity, and there were several mattresses and pieces of furniture to sleep on.

"I guess we can stay here for the night," Komali said. "I don't want to stay any longer out in... that."

"But what if the people who own this place get upset? I don't want to intrude!" Zelda protested.

Link dragged his finger across a dusty teapot. Putting his hand in front of his face, he blew it, creating a shower of dust. "Well, whoever owns this house clearly doesn't care much about it. Besides, there is no chance that I will be sleeping outside."

Zelda couldn't argue with that. Hopefully, Link thought, they wouldn't destroy anything and the owners wouldn't mind four lost, stranded, suffering teenagers to take refuge for one night.

* * *

Once everyone made themselves at home in this murder shack, everyone gathered around the fireplace. Link had found some firewood in the storage room, and Malon had lit it on fire. Link cracked open a can of salmon, and then groaned when he noticed the oil that it was sitting in froze. He sighed and placed the can right next to the fire, hoping for it to eventually melt.

"I don't know if I can withstand any more of this." Link pouted. "I'm literally in the snow with a t-shirt underneath a sweater and two jeans. I'm probably going to get hypothermia later."

"Hopefully the snow clears up soon." Zelda said. Everyone nodded in unison.

"Maybe we should sit out the snow in here?" Komali suggested. "I mean, we're not going to last long outside."

"It depends." Zelda replied. "How much longer is the snow going to go on? What time of year were you taken?"

Link tried to reminisce. Ever since they entered the facility around three weeks ago, keeping time hasn't really been an issue. "I think it was August when we were taken."

Malon looked a little discombobulated. "August? Nah, I'm certain it was around November."

Huh? November? Link definitely wasn't taken in November. But if they were taken in August, how would the weather match up? Were they just taken to the North Pole or something?

"Komali? What do you think?" Link asked.

"It was around August-ish." He said. "Late August, going into September. But that's odd. If we were going into September, it should be still be autumn now. But, it's clearly deep into winter."

"The obvious conclusion is that we've been transported northwards." Zelda said. Link did acknowledge that that was a logical conclusion. But, it didn't feel right. Sure, they may have been transported north. But if that was the case, why would Malon have a different memory than him and Komali?

He tried to not dwell on it and focus on regaining his energy. Standing up, he hobbled over to a storage closet, and opened it, trying to find anything that they could use for extra warmth. Inside, he found three blankets, several winter jackets, as well as other commodities that seemed rather unnecessary right now. Link grabbed the blankets and jackets, and tossed them at the other three teens sitting on the floor. Everyone quickly put on the jackets and draped the blankets over their legs.

"I feel bad using this person's stuff." Zelda said.

"Don't worry about it." Link replied. "We're fugitives now, after all."

"Fugitives?" Malon asked. "How so?"

"Well, Vaati did say the police and other authorities will kill us."

"He was just bluffing." Malon insured.

Komali sniffed. "I don't think so. He sounded a little too sincere for that."

Link picked up the can of fish and prodded at it with his finger. It was definitely melted enough to eat. He picked up one strip of salmon and popped it into his mouth. It was really oily and salty, but it wasn't terrible.

"You guys want some?" Link asked.

"No, thanks." Malon said. "I don't eat fish."

Link shrugged and passed it off to Zelda and Komali, who each took their share of food. Meanwhile, Malon cracked open a bag of beef jerky. "If you don't eat fish, then why did you get so much of it rather than other canned foods?"

Malon shrugged her shoulders. "They were cheaper, I guess. If we run out of everything else, I'll eat the fish."

After opening up a jar of pickles and a can of beans, everyone had full stomachs and had drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Link had rubbed his eyes open in the morning light. Staring outside the cracked window, he noted that the blizzard had died down, though the ground was still covered in snow. He stood up and wiped his eyes, stretching his arms and back. Then, he noticed something else outside. Malon and Komali were out there, doing what seemed like practicing their powers. Malon had her glove off and aimed her hand right at a piece of decaying wood. Closing her eyes, Link saw a stream of fire erupt from her palms and incinerate the log, leaving only burnt remains left.

Meanwhile, Komali was facing the opposite direction. He had his hands in a claw-like formation, pointing at a tree in the forest. He tensed his forearm as bolts of electricity emitted from each finger, tearing down the tree and causing it to collapse on the other end.

Okay, that was awesome. Link definitely envied them, but as of now, there was nothing that he could do but deal with it. With that, he decided to step outside and get a closer look.

"Mornin' Link!" Malon shouted. Komali simply waved at him.

"What're you doing?" Link asked.

"Eh, just practicing," Komali said, putting a hand up to the back of his neck. "Why don't you practice with us? We still don't know what you can do."

 _There's no point in delaying it any longer. They're going to find out, one way or another._

"Where's Zelda? I want her to be here."

"Oh?" Malon asked. "You want your little girlfriend out here to train with you?"

"What? No! I just want to tell you all something, and I want you to be together for it."

"She went to the bathroom to go freshen up." Malon said. "Hopefully there's still running water in there. Oh, here she is now."

Zelda walked outside. "Forget it. The water's gross and yellow."

"Gross..." Link trailed. "Whatever. Can you all gather together? There's something I need to tell you."

Malon, Zelda, and Komali stood in a line. "What?"

"I... have no power."

"What?" Zelda asked. "No power? Then why were you at the complex at the first place?"

"They said something about being a control subject. Someone to compare to the rest of the special subjects." Link looked away.

"I guess it does make sense..." Komali trailed. "I mean, if we're testing something that typical humans don't do, then it would make sense to get a typical human to do it."

"Well... it's not a big deal." Malon said. "If you're not an Aura, if you have no powers, it doesn't make much difference."

"I'm still a fugitive, though. And without any powers to help me escape, it will definitely be more difficult to evade them."

"We'll protect you if it comes to that." Komali said. He handed Link the kitchen knife. "You definitely need this more than I do."

Link grabbed it and stared at it. "...Thanks."

"Everyone's awake." Zelda started. "We should get walking. If you're not like us, it's not a problem. I mean, Komali's the only Rito. I'm the only amnesiac."

Link nodded. Everyone's understanding made him feel better. Everyone returned to the cabin to bag up all of the stuff that they unloaded.

"Did anyone manage to get cash by the way?" Zelda asked. "I completely forgot about that."

Link and Komali held up two wallets. "I got three thousand and twenty in mine." Link said.

"I have four thousand, three hundred, and forty rupees in my wallet."

"That should be around 7360 rupees. That'll be enough for now, but we'll have to figure some solution down the road. It won't last us forever."

 **(A/N: For this fic, picture 10 Rupees = 1 US Dollar)**

* * *

Walking now was a breeze due to the heavy snow jackets that they had borrowed. But, nothing had changed the boredom of walking for hours on end. From what Link could see, it was trees, snow, and road surrounding them in every direction. At first, it was a relief to see a glimpse of nature after being stuck in a highly technological facility for three months. It was a relief to see the sky, the sun, the clouds. But now, Link was getting tired of it. All he wanted to do was collapse back in his sofa at home and watch some television with his family.

"Link!" Zelda shouted, jolting him back to reality.

"What?" Link replied. Zelda pointed to a nearby road sign.

 _ **Hateno: 93 Miles**_

Link sighed in relief. At least they had a lead on where the next town was.

"Ninety three miles?" Malon pouted. "I don't think I could walk that distance! My legs are killing me already!"

"Unless we see some kind of taxi, that's our only option." Zelda protested.

Malon pouted a bit more like a ten year old wanting candy, but Zelda was right. It was their only option.

* * *

The group continued walking as the sun began to set once again. How long had it been since they've started walking? Time was virtually untrackable. Since they saw the sign, Link inferred that it had been maybe around four or five hours of straight walking. But, looking behind him, he saw one thing of note. Headlights.

"Hey!" Link shouted. The other three teens looked at him in confusion, then saw the car or truck accelerating in their direction. Link put his arms in the air and flailed it around. The truck approached them, but didn't seem to notice them. In a desperate attempt for indication, Link stepped out onto the road, directly in front of the car's path. The truck slammed on its brakes, but it required time and distance for it to make a full stop.

"LINK!" Zelda screamed. She reached out and pulled Link off the road, just as the truck whizzed by it. Now that Link was safe and sound, Zelda used her hand and smacked him on the face. "What the hell were you thinking! You could've killed yourself!"

Link rubbed his cheek, dejected. The truck driver stopped the truck, and left the driver's seat.

"What the fuck were you idiotic teens doing?" He screamed. "If I ran y'all over, I would have to clean the blood off my grill!"

"We're sorry," Zelda apologized. "Link here's a little bit reckless." She glared straight at him, with a stare that pierced his very soul.

"What were y'all doin' out here in the first place?" He raged.

"Link probably wanted to hitchhike. We're kind of lost, and want to get to the nearest town as soon as possible. We're lost, cold, and hungry kids who haven't seen civilization in weeks." Malon said. "Could you do that for us? You saw how desperate Link was."

"I suppose I could... I'm headed to Hateno anyway." The truck driver said. "It'd be a shame to not help suffering kids. I need a good deed for today. Go ahead, hop on in."

Link hopped into the passenger side of the truck, and then navigated to the back seats. He was followed by Malon and Zelda, who sat beside him in the back. Komali was prepared to jump into the passenger seat, but the driver didn't think so.

"What do ya' think you're doin'?" The driver asked.

"What do you mean?" Komali asked, confused.

"You would think I would let you sit in this 'ere truck? Maybe in yo' dreams, birdbrain!"

"But, your passenger seat clearly has enough space fo-"

"If ya' want to come with me, then ya' have to sit in the cargo bed."

Link raised my head. "Why? Why can't he sit in the passenger seat?"

"Why would I let'em? There is no way I'm lettin' a Rito sit in the inside of ma' truck!"

This guy... He seemed nice to them at first, but now he's berating Komali? What's the big deal? If this happened, and he recorded and put it on the Internet, there would be a huge outrage around the country. This man would get fired and blacklisted by almost everyone.

"Fuck it," Link said. "We don't need help from someone like you. Come on, Komali. Let's walk."

Link stood up and made his way out. "What are ya' doin, sport?" The driver asked.

"You're taking all of us, or taking none of us." Link replied.

"But you're a Hylian! You deserve help from a fellow Hylian like me!"

 _Oh. I get it. This guy isn't just a jerk. He's a fucking racist._

"You know what, it's fine." Komali said. "I'll sit in the cargo hold."

"Komali, no." Link demanded. "He needs to take all of us inside his truck."

"He clearly won't! Just let me sit in the cargo bed, it'll get us to Hateno faster."

"No! I won't let him treat you like this!" Link shouted. Zelda and Malon got out of the truck.

"He's right, Komali." Zelda said. "He's taking either all of us, or none of us."

Link turned back around to face the driver, and tell him that he had one last chance, to take all of them, or none of them. But, instead, the driver was gone.

"Where'd he go?" Malon asked. Malon, Komali, and Zelda all went around the other side of the truck to check if he had just went around to check on something.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" A masculine voice screamed. Link turned around and noticed it came from the forests to the right side of the road, quickly getting quieter. He pulled the knife out of his backpack and gripped it with his left hand. However, he felt two strong, hairy arms wrap around his waist and placed Link in its armpit. It used its now free arm to grab Link's wrist, causing him to drop the knife. It ran into the forest, with him in its possession.

Link screamed in terror.


	15. Chapter 15

**Arc 2: On the Run**

 **Chapter 15: Hateno**

* * *

 ** _~Zelda~_**

"Link?" Zelda asked. No response. She took the other two and went around the side of the truck to see Link missing and a knife on the ground. "Oh, no!"

"Where did he go?" Komali asked. He looked straight ahead with the help of the truck's headlights and saw two sets of footprints.

"Let's follow it. Get prepared." Zelda demanded. Malon took off her gloves, revealing her flaming hands. Komali's body began to spark and charge up with volts, and Zelda had her guard up if she ever had to project a shield, and gripped Link's knife.

"It's really dark," Komali said. "How are we supposed to find Link in this darkness? We can't even see the footprints properly."

"I can create a small amount of light," Malon said. She picked up a branch and set it on fire, creating a torch. She handed it off to Zelda, who held it at the end.

"Come on!" Zelda muttered. With the torch close to the ground, Zelda was following the footsteps through the snow. She stopped, and looked upwards, to see a massive skull. Inside of it was a fireplace, three monsters, and Link and the trucker in a cage in the back. The monsters, in particular, looked like red humanoid pigs wearing nothing but loincloths. Zelda held out a hand to stop Malon and Komali from coming any closer.

"There's three of them," Zelda said.

"Three of who?" Malon asked.

"These monster things," Zelda replied. "I'm not sure what they are."

"It doesn't matter, we're fully capable of beating them!" Malon said.

"We don't know what they're capable of!" Zelda protested. "Plus, I don't have any offensive capabilities"

"Our best bet is probably to take them by surprise." Komali said. "We don't know what they can do, so we can't have any plans. Let's just wing it."

"Fine." Zelda replied. At the beginning, Komali seemed like the meek, shy person. But, she could tell that he was slowly gaining his confidence after warming up to them these past few days. He was almost rivaling Zelda in strategy and intelligence.

"Komali, you're on the left, Malon, you're on the right. I'll distract in the center." Zelda said. Malon and Komali flanked in opposite directions, just outside of the field of vision from the interior of the skull. She slowly walked dead center right to the skull.

The monsters sniffed around and then looked straight to me. Then, they grabbed what looked like massive clubs.

As she was walking up to them, she channeled her energy and surrounded her body in a blue, spherical force field.

It definitely wasn't easy. She could feel her energy being sapped by the second; she couldn't hold this forever. The monsters ran straight up to her, and began barraging her shield with the clubs. Each impact caused a ripple in the blue shield, and a further sap in her power.

 _Come on, Malon! Come on, Komali!_

Both teens ran up behind each monster and wrapped their arms around their necks. Malon's hands singed into the monster's chest, eventually releasing a burst of flame onto it. The monster screamed and wailed, as Malon kept her hand on its chest. It eventually collapsed onto the ground as Malon kept her hands searing into its scorched body. Komali was taking longer, but he had shot waves of electricity and sparks into his monster's body. The monster twitched around, dropped what it was holding, and fell to the ground, convulsing.

Zelda dropped the shield and dropped to her knees. Holding that shield and suffering the impacts really sapped the energy from her. She could feel that Malon and Komali were feeling it too, given that they were both panting and sweating. Not knowing if Komali's monster was truly dead, she slowly walked over to it and stabbed the knife into the chest. It screeched one final time and collapsed into what looked like dark sludge, which seemed to immediately vaporize. The other monster did the same.

Zelda kneeled on the floor for a few minutes. What just happened? What were those monsters?

Komali wasted no time and walked over to the cage that Link and the trucker were in and fiddled with the lock.

"You're going to be alright," Komali comforted.

"Shut up!" The truck driver shouted. "I don't know who you people are, but just leave and don't have anything to do with me!"

"Wow, harsh," Link said.

"Are you like them?" The driver asked. He gripped Link's shoulders and shook him. "Are you freaks like them?"

"N-no!" Link protested. "I'm just like you. And, I promise that they won't hurt you."

"What do you want? Do you want money? Is that it?" the driver bargained.

Zelda could understand why he was scared of them. It was definitely a shock to see that for the first time.

"We want one thing," Komali said. "A drive to Hateno."

"And you promise, you won't hurt me?!"

"We won't hurt you."

* * *

It was a really... awkward drive. This time, the driver did not complain about having Komali sit in the truck, but Zelda could tell he was obviously uncomfortable and on edge. No one said a word the entire 100-minute ride, but after the trees had thinned, Zelda stuck her face against the window to see nighttime lights of a huge city and skyscrapers.

The truck driver stopped at the first sidewalk he encountered and opened the doors. Zelda was about to thank the driver, but he closed the door and drove off immediately.

"We have to refrain from doing that from now on," Zelda said. "We don't want the people freaking out about our powers. That'll just draw attention to us."

"You're right," Komali said. "That'll just make it easier for them to catch us."

"So, what now?" Malon asked. "What are we going to now?"

"Hang with the homeless?" Link asked, laughing. Komali smacked him in the arm.

"I'm guessing we should stay in a cheap hotel," Zelda said, putting a hand on the back of her neck. She gestured for the other three to follow them through the now-lit streets of Hateno. After a few minutes of silent walking, they began seeing more people and traffic in the city.

It was beyond what she had believed one of these cities to look like. Besides the Aura Complex, it was the first time that she had seen a mass collection of people, who seemed to be going along with their regular business. The streets were full of cars and the occasional trolley. The sides of the buildings were adorned with all sorts of neon lights and signs, saying stuff such as 'Tyler's Restaurant' or 'Flagship Hotel'. Zelda stopped a random woman who was staring at her phone while walking.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Zelda began. "Do you happen to know any good and cheap hotels around here?"

"Do you want a good hotel, or a cheap hotel? It's impossible to get them both at once."

"Fine then. Cheap hotel."

The woman began typing a few things on her phone, then looked up at Zelda. "There's a cheap one that's two hundred fifty rupees a night for a room. Is that cheap enough for you?"

Damn. That was extremely cheap. "What are the reviews?" Zelda asked. The woman rolled her eyes and began typing more on her phone.

"It's a two and a half star rating. People say that it's possible to sleep, but it's quite dirty and unsanitary. Also, service is terrible. It's also in a dangerous part of the city."

She turned to the other three. "Do you think we should stay there?"

"I don't really care," Link began.

"Fine with me," Malon said.

"Eh, whatever," Komali said.

"Fine. Where's it located?" Zelda asked.

"Fourth Avenue and Rockworth Street." The woman said.

"Thank you," Zelda replied, but the woman just walked off. Link, on the other side, hailed a taxi.

"Come on, guys, get in!" He directed. Zelda, Malon, and Komali all got into the cab.

"Where do you want to go?" The driver asked. However, he stared daggers at Komali for some reason.

"Uhh... Fourth Avenue and Rockworth please."

The driver nodded and began navigating through the crowded streets of Hateno. Everyone was way too tired to say anything, and the driver had to shout at them to get them to exit the cab. They paid the hundred rupee fare and left.

"Come on," Zelda sleepily said, opening the trunk of the cab and retrieving everyone's backpacks. She tossed them to the others as the taxi sped off.

"Hotel, hotel," Zelda muttered. She kept her eyes peeled until she noticed _Golden Medal Inn_.

"Come on, let's go." Zelda said. Everyone followed as they entered the inn. Inside, there was one woman waiting at reception, staring at her phone.

"Um.. hello?" Malon asked. The woman looked up. "What do you want?"

"We need a hotel room?"

The woman groaned and stuck her phone in her pocket. "Do you want a standard room or a deluxe room?"

"Is there a difference?" Link asked.

"The deluxe room has a TV, a more comfortable bed, minifridge, and a microwave, and has twice as much room. It costs five hundred rupees a night, versus the standard room's two fifty rupees."

"No, we'll take the standard room." Zelda said. The reception woman reached under the desk and pulled out an old-fashioned key. "Your room is two thirty three."

She pulled her cell phone back out of her pocket and began texting or playing Candy Crush or whatever she was doing.

"They weren't lying about bad service," Komali said. No one said anything as they climbed the two flights of stairs and walked across the rickety hallway to their room. Link fingered the chipping paint as it crumbled and fell to the questionably stained carpet.

Zelda ignored the quality of the hallway and walked up to their shared room. She used the key, and noted that it didn't turn properly. She stared straight at the number on the keychain, and the number on the door, and saw that it matched up. Forcing the key to turn a little bit, she finally got it to turn with extreme resistance, and open the room.

The room was a different story. The paint on the walls looked rather new in comparison to the hallway, but the paint job was complete... shit. It was as if a four year old coated the entire walls in paint and then used various types of duct tape to rip around half of it off. The carpet in the hallway disintegrated into crappy tile. The bathroom in the room had no door and was covered in what looked like dirt and mold.

 _No way I am using that, I'll just hold it for the night._

The furniture actually looked pretty decent, but it didn't seem sufficient for four people. There was only one twin-sized bed standing in the middle of the room, with two armchairs sitting to either side. There was one singular table next to the armchair on the right, and an alarm clock on a nightstand.

 _How are we going to sleep like this? Eh, whatever. It's better than sleeping in the cold streets._

Link instantly ran up and hopped onto the bed. "Mine."

Malon and Komali each sat on an armchair. Where was Zelda supposed to sleep? She pulled the table away from Malon's armchair and laid down on it. "This'll do." she said.

 _I don't want to inconvenience anyone else, but there is no way that I am sleeping on this floor._

Zelda placed her bag on top of the table and walked over to the bathroom.

"Zelda, we can trade places if you want," Link said.

"No, you take it."

"You're a girl. You don't deserve to sleep on a table."

"Fine. Thank you." Zelda said. She didn't want to talk, she didn't want to complain about anything, she just wanted to go to bed. She brushed her teeth and got ready, and then plopped down on the bed. Closing her eyes, the sleep was almost calling her to its realm.

* * *

Zelda blinked the sunlight out of her eyes. Wiping her face and sitting up, she noted that everyone else was still asleep. She stared straight at the clock in the room and noticed that it was ten in the morning.

 _I should get a map to study it and see where we'll have to travel._

Zelda stood up and slipped her shoes back on. Carefully trying to not disturb the others, she got ready and carefully exited the room. Descending down the stairs, she exited the inn and admired the city now that it was daytime and visible.

Hateno was truly a wonderful city. While the street that they were currently on looked kind of like the slums, she could see the glorious skyline of downtown right ahead of her with around thirty clean skyscrapers as well as some modern, innovative buildings.

Zelda noticed a bookshop and looked inside. It was quite an amazing shop, with a very old, explorer feel on the inside. She grabbed several maps and opened each of them up. However, she began to notice a trend.

Zelda turned to the shopkeeper. "Do you have any maps of Hyrule and other countries?"

"No, why would I have that? What do you need it for?"

"Oh, I just need it for a... school project. A school project. That's it."

"I'm sorry, but we're only permitted to sell maps of Hyrule. I could get fined if I were found with a map of another country."

Eh? Fined for a foreign map? What kind of rule was that?

"Fine. I'll take this seventeen by twenty-two map."

"That'll be thirty rupees."

Zelda dug around in the wallet for a bit and produced one red and two blue rupees. "Have a nice day," The shopkeeper said as she was leaving.

While she was walking back with the folded map in her hand, someone called out to her.

"Psst!" Zelda turned her head and saw a green-haired girl peeking out of an alleyway. "Over here!"

Zelda looked around and pointed to herself while staring directly at the girl. "Yes, you!"

On edge, she heeded her response with her guard up to create a shield if she needed to. When they were both well within the alley, the girl began talking.

"My name is Saria. I'm a scout for the Resistance."

"Resistance?" Zelda asked. "Against what?"

"Lord Ganondorf, of course! Take back Hyrule and restore it to its former glory! I know who you and your friends are, and the Resistance would be a great place for you to hone your skills and make Hyrule a place where you won't have to fear anything!"

"How do I know you're not a spy working for Vaati?" Zelda asked, skeptical.

"I'm not. I'm just like you." Saria replied. She stuck her hand out in the direction opposite the street as a small tree began to grow. "Now, do you want to join the Resistance or not?"

This girl was an Aura, just like them. That told Zelda that she could be trusted. "Why don't you come with us to our hotel room and explain it there? I don't want to be a middleman?"

"There's a high chance that room is bugged. Hotel rooms are almost always bugged by Ganondorf's forces." Saria warned.

"Trust me, that room is complete shit. There is no way that room is bugged."

"Can't be too careful. I'll wait here, you go inside and bring everyone out."

Zelda sighed and complied with Saria's request.

* * *

After Zelda and the others had checked out of the hotel, she had led everyone back to the alley that Saria was standing in.

"How do you know who we are? It's because you're working with Vaati, right?" Link asked. Saria shook her head.

"I'm not working with Vaati. We have a mole working as a redshirt in the Aura Complex to feed us information. We've received intel of five people escaping. By the way, where's the last one?"

"He got into a fight with us, and we just kind of left him there." Komali explained. "But, why were you spying on the Aura Complex of all places?"

"The resistance was always a slow-growing organization. We have ordinary people, but in a huge mistake, realized that ordinary people don't stand a chance against Ganondorf. After our skilled hackers and programmers uncovered some data for some people with extraordinary abilities, coined Auras, we realized that a collection of these people were our best bet against Ganon. Since then, the resistance has traveled in various countries in search for people with these abilities and recruit them. But, as you would expect, you Auras are quite rare. When our leader launched a second attack with fifty Auras, she was too overconfident that she lacked an efficient strategy, and almost all the fighters got decimated before stepping foot into the Hyrule Castle grounds. I don't know much now, but we only have a few other Auras back at home base in Symmetry City in Labrynna. There are also other scouts like me trying to recruit Auras in various other cities. Let me know if you have any concerns."

"Hang on, what has Ganondorf done while we were out that warrants us trying to take him down?" Link asked.

"Ganon has done many things. He was the one to start the civil war between North and South Hyrule. He instigated the attacks, and began the entire thing."

Link, Komali, and Malon winced at Saria's words.

"Once Hyrule was taken over, he had begun to rule the kingdom with an iron fist. The major rules are: 1. No negative talk or expression regarding the actions of the Great Leader. 2. All people must be indoors from 11 PM to 7 AM for curfew. 3. No leaving the country. There are also no jails in the country, and any minor infraction of the rules or typical laws result in death. Police are authorized to kill any suspects, for even something as minuscule as stealing a five-rupee bar of candy."

"That's horrible," Zelda said. Maybe they were better off staying in the Aura Complex.

"Also, with your escape, Vaati leaked profiles of you four. The police and military are ordered to kill you on sight."

Zelda winced. "Fine, fine, we expected that. What do you want us to do?"

"Basically, what I want you to do is to head to Symmetry City in Labrynna. Once you get there, go to All-Star Pawn Shop and ask for Impa. But, it's quite difficult to get there. Give me your map, Zelda."

Zelda pulled out the map that she had just purchased and gave it to Saria, who laid it down on the dirty but not wet floor. She pulled out a pen and began marking it up.

"Labrynna is directly south of Hyrule. But, there is extremely tight security at the border. Hyrule and Labrynna have extremely high tensions with each other after the war, but Labrynna will accept basically any Hyrulean refugees. Even with you being auras, it's near impossible to cross the border without getting shot or exploded to death. So, your best course of action will be to make a quick detour into Termina and wrap around Lake Hylia. Termina is neutral and doesn't take a side, so it'll be easier to get across the border. Then, after that, you must head southwest to get to Labrynna. Once you're in Labrynna, just get to Lynna City, and then take the Labrynnan Bullet Train to Symmetry City."

"That's a lot of walking," Malon said.

"If you want, you could go to Lurelin and take the sea route to Koholint, and then the route from Koholint to Talus in Labrynna, then take the LBT to Symmetry City. It's less walking, but it's a lot of waiting and there's an extremely high chance that you'll be sitting ducks on a ship if it's inspected."

Zelda looked up at the other three. "What do you want to do?"

* * *

 **So, I'm leaving this up to you. Would you rather see the crew travel the land route or the sea route? I will post a poll on my profile (for FFN), but if you're viewing on Ao3, just post which you would prefer in the comments. Whichever has the most votes by the time I write the next chapter (It will be mostly the same regardless of which option is chosen, except for a few dialogue lines) , I will begin writing that route. And note, that the sea route will have less chapters and will be quicker to get into the third arc, but the land route will be more action-packed.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Arc 2: On the Run**

 **Chapter 16: Frantic**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

"I think we should go through Termina," Komali determined. "It might be slower, but I feel like it's less risky. There's a very high chance of us getting discovered on that ship, and we'll have no where to run if we do."

"By the way, just to let you know, even if you do manage to leave Hyrule, you're still not entirely safe." Saria explained.

"Explain." Link said. "Why?"

"There's the Yiga Clan. They're a Holodese organization that tries to enforce Ganon's rules outside of Hyrule. They're not officially affiliated with Ganondorf, but occasionally Ganon 'accidentally leaks' information to the Yiga. I suspect that they also have intel on you, and they'll plan to kill you even if you make your way to Termina, Koholint, or Labrynna. But, regardless, dealing with the Yiga is much safer than dealing with the Hyrulean Forces."

"Noted."

"Now, I recommend that you all stay in Hateno for a few days before you leave so you can recuperate and-"

*BANG* *CLANG*

Saria fell silent as everyone tried to locate the sound. Link noticed a smoking hole on the back of Malon's backpack. Reaching his hand out to touch it, he felt beans spill out of the can and soak the bag.

"Uhh..." Link concerningly said.

*BANG*

A hole appeared on the alley wall right behind Link. He stared right at Zelda, whose eyes lit open. She frantically thrust an arm in the air, causing a massive shield to appear right above of the alley way.

*BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG*

Massive amounts of bullets shot out like a machine gun and hit Zelda's shield.

"Or we can leave now. That's fine." Saria whined. "Zelda, can you move the field or do you have to stay still?"

"I don't know!" She shouted, the shield obviously tiring her out. "I haven't tried!"

"We can't take that risk! If she messes up, we're dead!" Komali shouted. He closed his eyes and focused on something, as a massive cloud of smoke appeared over the alleyway and covered the top of it like a roof. "That'll make it harder for them to hit us. Let's run!"

The five of them ran out of the alleyway and into the morning streets of Hateno. Running and panting, Link looked directly behind them to see five policemen, all holding pistols or assault rifles, firing shots at them.

"Just stop running!" They shouted. "If you stop running, your departure will be much less painful!"

The five of them ran into the transition from the slums of the city into a more popular part, where many people were crowding around, going upon their business. "Into the crowd! They'll lose us!" Zelda shouted.

The group ran into the Saturday commute as a group and began navigating around the streets. "Good thinking, Zelda!" Link thanked.

Then, the policemen did some things that none of them expected. They began firing into the crowd. Thousands of screams erupted from the busy streets around them as a human stampede formed in the direction that Link and the others were running in.

"What the fuuuuuuck!?" Link shouted. "They're killing hundreds of their own citizens just to catch us four?"

"I should've expected that," Saria replied. "We can't just let them take the lives of innocent bystanders. We have to stop them."

Saria stopped running until the policemen came into view. She thrust her arm in the air, then pressed it against the ground. A green wave pulsed from the point where her palm and the concrete met.

The ground in front of the policemen began to crack, as several vines sprouted from the road. The vines curled around the policemen's arms and legs, causing them to drop their weapons and stop moving.

"I'll hold them off. I'm required as a scout to stay in this city and recruit more Auras anyways."

"But what about you?" Zelda asked. "You're probably going to die!"

"I'll be fine. I know how to use my powers defensively, while you guys are just amateurs. Just take this card with the Labrynnan address on it and this communicator. You can use the communicator to talk to me, but it's set to short-circuit after one conversation to prevent bugging or anyone spying on us, so be sure to save it."

*BANG*

A bullet grazed Link's ear and wedged itself in the street.

"Snipers," Saria sighed. "I need to take care of them. You guys take the subway! You'll be safer! Take the outbound K train and get off Lorei Station. That's the furthest east that you can get via subway."

Saria began charging at the building that the sniper was currently reloading on, and leaped up extremely high to land on the roof.

"Damn!" Link said, watching her. He saw the sniper getting disarmed, then pushed off the other side of the building.

"Link!" Komali shouted. Zelda and Malon had already began running. "What are you waiting for?"

Link looked behind him to see ten more policemen charging them. Komali aimed his arm towards them and shot out a jolt of electricity, causing them to collapse to the floor.

"That's a stun shot. Now, let's just run!"

Link heeded Komali's request and chased after the girls, who were several yards in front of them. They descended down a set of stairways into what looked like a subway system. Following them, he noted that they had just hopped right over the ticket scanning gates and made their way further down into the subway station.

Darting down the second set of stairs, Link noticed the girls embarking on the K train. He and Komali raced towards it, but it closed right in Link's face. Komali banged on the windows, while the girls banged back. "Wait at the last station!" Komali shouted. The train began to move to the left. Link stood up and began running in its direction, but the passenger walkway ended, only leaving tunnels and rails.

"Dammit!" Link shouted, smashing his fist against the stone wall.

"I guess we just have to wait for the next train." Komali sighed. Then, the ten policemen began slowly descending down the stairway. It seemed as if they hadn't noticed them yet.

"Shit!" Link swore. He poked at Komali's face and pointed directly at the policemen. Trying to sneak away unnoticed, they quietly walked towards the other stairway in the station and began ascending.

"Hey!" the first policeman shouted. Link and Komali started running up the stairs again.

*BANG BANG BANG*

Link pulled out his knife and chucked it at the leading policeman. It lodged itself in the policeman's chest as he collapsed to the floor of the stairwell.

"Did I just kill that guy?"

"Don't worry about that! Just run!" Komali shouted. Link and Komali had made their way outside of the station onto the street where they were before.

"Quickly! This way!" Link shouted. However, Komali just kind of stood there. He scrunched his face as two stationary replicas of Komali and him appeared, standing a little bit off to the side of the stairwell.

"You're getting good at that illusion thing!" Link said.

"Now's not the time to congratulate me. We have to run before they see two sets of us!"

Link and Komali darted off to a nearby building. Komali spread his wings and began flying. Grabbing Link's shoulders, he lifted him up to the roof of the building. "I can't do this forever, especially not with carrying you _and_ both our backpacks. We're going to have to focus more on running. That already sapped most of the energy I have left."

Link peered over the side of the rooftop to see the policemen messing with Komali's illusion. They were trying to shoot it, but the bullets just passed straight through and emerged out the other side. One policeman shot at the illusion, but hit a metal pole behind it which caused it to ricochet and hit a different policeman.

"These policemen are really dumb." Link said. "Could they not have hired better people? Not that I'm complaining."

Komali opened a bottle of water. "They have really poor aim. Even with the scopes on those snipers or whatever. They really need to begin reevaluating their forces. These guys are total noobs"

"How long are we going to stay here? We don't want to keep Zelda and Malon waiting at that station"

"Oh, we can leave now. I just needed to catch my breath."

Link and Komali went into the building and descended down the stairwell to the ground floor. There, in the empty lobby, he noticed some kind of replica sword inside of a glass case.

 _I lost my knife. This won't hurt._

Link grabbed the case and threw it to the ground, shattering it. He reached through the broken glass and picked up the sword, admiring its weight. It somehow felt more comfortable to him than the knife.

"Fine, let's just hope the owners don't get upset that their thirty thousand rupee replica sword is gone."

"Oh, shut up. There was quite literally a massacre outside. I doubt they care much about the sword."

"Whatever."

Link and Komali darted outside of the building to notice that most of the policemen were gone from the scene. Komali's illusion was gone, and the street was littered with bodies.

Actively trying not to get disturbed, Link followed Komali to the train station where several people were waiting. Once again, they hopped the gate and waited at the platform.

Link turned to a local. "Hey, when does the next outbound K arrive?"

"Haven't you heard the news? They stopped all trains. Apparently there was some kind of accident involving the last outbound K train, and they forced us to all disembark.

"What?" Link asked. "Fuck it. Komali, let's go!"

Link ignored all of the gasps and complaints of the people on the platform as he leapt off and onto the railway.

"Kid, what are you doing!?"

"What if the subway starts back up again? You'll be roadkill!"

"Why do you have a sword? Are you going to cut up any trains that are going to kill you?"

"Komali, let's move!" Link urged. Komali rolled his eyes and joined him.

"Stupid teens are going to kill themselves."

"This is why I hate this generation. So reckless."

"Natural selection!"

Once they were out of ear and eyeshot and far into the tunnel, Komali turned to Link. "You're really ballsy for going in here without a plan."

"We're going to follow the railway and find that railcar."

"There could've been a train in between the one that Malon and Zelda were on and right now. How do we know that's the train that got involved in the accident?"

Link walked back out to the crowd and looked at the monitors, which stated the last train to leave. It said 'K, 12:45 PM'

The whole ordeal happened around fifteen minutes ago. The monitor changed to the next screen. 'It is currently 1:00 PM'

Looking on the posters on the wall, it looked like each train was supposed to leave ten minutes apart from each train with the same letter. It was definitely Malon and Zelda's train.

"They're definitely on that train," Link said. "We have to go find them."

Komali rolled his eyes. "Fine. But, lucky for you, I have a plan."

He placed his hand on one of the rails. "What are you doing?" Link asked.

"This is the third rail. It provides electricity to the subway system. It's not active now, but once it starts back up, I'll warn you so we can get to safety.

Link nodded as he and Komali began walking through the tunnel, searching for evidence of the wreck.

* * *

 _ **~Zelda~**_

Zelda smacked against the side of the window, trying to open the door for Link and Komali, who were also banging on the door. What were they doing? Why didn't they get on the train? Are they okay?

A slight tug signified that they were beginning to move. Link and Komali began running to their direction. "Wait for at the last station!" Komali shouted. The train accelerated into a tunnel, cutting off the passenger access. Sighing, Zelda sunk down in her seat while Malon slid closer to her. "What are we going to do?" She asked.

"I guess we have to go to the end of the rail line and wait there for Komali and Link to arrive." Zelda replied. She tapped the shoulder of some bald guy next to her. "Excuse me sir, do you know how long it takes to get to Lorei station?"

"It's maybe around thirty minutes without any delays." The man went back to his grumpy look and put his nose back into the book he was reading.

Zelda sat next to Malon and tried to bide her time, but it was kind of difficult. What if they were ambushed upon arriving? They wouldn't be able to stay in the station, and they'd be separated.

The train slowed to a stop at the next station. The doors opened as several passengers left, and others entered the train. Zelda sighed.

"Is this how public transportation always is?" Zelda asked. "I don't like how crowded it is."

"Don't ask me. I live isolated on a ranch."

The doors closed once again as the train sped off. Since the last station, the train had cleared up and gotten less crowded, but being in such proximity to strangers was something that really irked Zelda. She sat back and silently waited for this discomfort to end.

Then, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't make out all the details, but there was a rather plump man in sunglasses and what looked like a policeman outfit.

Zelda frantically tapped the shoulder of Malon, who had dozed off.

"Ughh? What?" She asked. Zelda pointed to the man who was making his way to their direction. Malon and Zelda inconspicuously stood up and sneaked their way into the next car. Looking behind them, the policeman seemed to not notice them, but was still surveying the train while looking at every face on the way down.

Trying to avoid this policeman for as long as possible, Zelda and Malon had moved as far ahead as they could, slowly and gently pushing past men, women, and children.

"I think we're in the clear now." Zelda said. Malon looked straight ahead and pointed, frantically slapping Zelda on the shoulder. Zelda looked up and directed her gaze to where she was pointing, only to see a second police officer walking in the opposite direction through the door of the next train car.

"What do we do?" Malon whispered.

"Play it cool for now. Don't look suspicious, hopefully they'll just walk past us and ignore us." Zelda slipped on the hood of her winter coat, then did the same for Malon.

"And if they don't?"

"Then, we fight them."

The first policeman making his way to the front of the train slid open the door, only a train car's length away from Malon and Zelda. The second policeman was converging on them from beyond the window of the second car.

 _The train's dark enough. I don't think they'll recognize our faces in this light._

The policeman stood right in front of the two girls, and then glared right at them. He then looked straight ahead and continued on investigating. Malon sighed in relief while Zelda practically fell off her seat.

The two policeman crossed by each other as they each scoured the crowd. The second policeman arrived, closing in on Malon and Zelda.

 _The first policeman didn't notice us. Hopefully this second one isn't as thorough. As long as this tunnel was dark, they wouldn't be able to see-_

The train departed the underground and slowly climbed up to emerge on an elevated railway, just as the second policeman were honing in on them. When he arrived, he looked straight at Malon and Zelda. He stood there for a maddeningly long time, as he reached for Zelda's hood. She pulled her head back, until it hit the side of the subway train. The policeman gripped the hood and flicked it backwards, revealing Zelda's full golden locks and her face, brightly lit in the noon light.

"Uhh... can I help you?" She asked. The policeman said nothing.

 _Well... hopefully he would just move on and-_

The policeman whipped out his gun and aimed it straight at Zelda's face. When he was just about to pull the trigger, Zelda projected a small semi-circular shield to cover just her and Malon. Each passenger leapt away in fear, either from the policeman's gun or Zelda's shield. Maybe even both.

*BANG BANG*

The policeman shot at her twice, both bullets mushing against the shield. The first policeman ran straight up to them, aiming their guns straight at them. Knowing that their bullets won't do anything, they each withheld their fire, but weapons still aimed towards Zelda and Malon.

"You think you can sustain that shield forever?" Cop 1 asked. "Why don't we just wait for you to tire out?"

Cop 2 said nothing, only nodded. Both cops waited by Zelda's shield, waiting for it to dissipate.

"What do I do?" Zelda asked.

"Zelda, I can do a lot of stuff with my powers. Just try to see what else you can do?"

Zelda nodded. Waiting a few more seconds, Zelda thrust her arms forward, pushing the shield off of them and projecting it towards the cops. It quickly smacked against them, but the shield lost no momentum. They were knocked off their feet and smashed against the other side of the train, unable to move. They struggled while Zelda looked around the rest of the car. Everyone looked at her in horror. She could understand why, but the fact that so many people were horrified really irritated her and made her extremely uncomfortable. When she was unable to hold it, Zelda let go of the shield, dropping the cops to the ground. Malon grabbed Zelda's arm.

"Into the next train!" She urged. The two cops regained their composure and began to grip their weapons. Not wanting to end up with new holes in her body, Zelda followed Malon's suggestion and entered the next train. Malon took off her left glove and ran her index finger across the door connecting the trains, welding them shut.

Each cop arrived at the welded door, and attempted to force it open. Learning that it was fruitless, the cops grabbed their pistols and aimed them through the window. They shot a few times as Malon and Zelda scrambled to hide behind the seat next to the doors. The rest of the citizens rushed straight to the next cabin, while screaming. Leaning her face out to check on the status, the cops were gone.

"Where'd they go?" Malon asked. Zelda put an index finger to Malon's mouth.

"Shhh!" She urged. Because the subway car was empty, Zelda could hear every sound. And she heard something that definitely shouldn't be there.

*BANG BANG BANG*

These bangs weren't loud enough to be bullets, but seemed to be coming from right above them, and heading towards the front of the train. The two cops leapt down on the opposite end of the car, guns drawn.

"You can't evade us this time!" Cop 1 shouted. "Any last words?"

Zelda projected a shield once again, large enough to cover the entire width of the train. She pushed her arms forwards, pushing the cops backwards. She turned around to try to escape to the last car, but it was welded shut.

"Dammit!" Zelda shouted. "Malon, can you unweld this?"

"I don't think that's possible unless I have a chainsaw."

Zelda held Malon close. They were cornered, and there was no way that they would escape into the next train without messing with the guards.

"We have to fight." Zelda ordered. She brought down the shield, dropping the cops to the ground. Malon took off her gloves again, and then chucked fireballs at them. Each fireball hit the floor and walls, but instead of dissipating, bounced off and continued their trajectory towards the policemen. They each pulled out their guns and began shooting at the fireballs, to no avail.

Each ball hit the respective policeman, setting each of their clothes on fire. They dropped to the ground and rolled around. Zelda and Malon used this chance to run past them, into the frontmost car. The policeman eventually got the fire on their clothes out, and advanced to the front car with burnt and tattered clothes.

The frontmost car was jam packed, presumably from the amount of people trying to evade them and the cops.

The cops aimed their guns straight at Zelda and Malon, among the crowd of scared people.

"You're cornered!" Cop 2 shouted. "Nowhere to run, no where to hide. Good luck fighting me without hitting these poor, innocent civilians. I know your fire will hurt these people from being too close to you. And your shield is pointless. No matter how much you protect yourself or push us back, you won't be able to hurt us at all."

Zelda fell back. He was right. They were cornered, and the only offensive move that they had was extremely dangerous and could end up risking the lives and health of those around them, those who have nothing to do with them.

"The morally acceptable thing to do is to step forwards and let this happen without dragging anyone else in. It's inevitable." Cop 1 said. "Accept your deaths."

Zelda and Malon did not move. "Oh, well. Your loss."

The cops aimed their guns towards them, then fired. Zelda projected another shield.

"Heh." Cop 2 chuckled. "I know you'll get tired. You won't last forever. You're just delaying your deaths!"

Zelda collapsed behind the shield, desperately trying to muster up the power to stay. The power to last until the next station. But she knew that wouldn't happen. Unless a miracle occurred.

"Zelda!" Malon shouted. She gripped Zelda, who was losing strength. "Come on, you can do this!"

"You can do this!" Some random lady shouted.

"You can do this!" A guy said from behind them.

"You can do this! You can do this! You can do this!"

 _They're cheering me on? Alright, I better not let these guys down. I can do this. I can do this. For the sake of these people, I can do this._

A power roared from inside her. It was similar to the rush that she had gotten when she had unlocked her shield power for the first time, but stronger. Stronger than she could ever imagine. The power seeped out from inside her heart to the outside of her body, to the outside of her skin.

"Z-Zelda?" Malon asked in shock. Zelda said nothing and pushed herself off the ground. "You're glowing!" Malon shouted.

The energy channeled to both of her arms, causing them to glow a very bright gold color. She put her left hand out in a vertical fist with her arm fully extended, causing a large old-school bow to materialize from the energy in her left arm. She used her other arm to pluck the drawstring, pulling back and aiming straight at Cop 1. An arrow made of pure light appeared straight out of her right hand.

"Y-You!" Cop 1 shouted. "You can't do that! We have no reports of you doing that!"

"Oh, well. Your loss."

Zelda released the drawstring, launching the light arrow straight at Cop 1. It lodged itself in Cop 1's chest, launching him backwards. The cop stopped moving, with the glowing arrow still lodged in his chest.

"Hey, fucker!" Malon shouted. Cop 2 looked straight up in horror. "Do you want to put down your gun and run into the last car, or do you want to join him?"

The cop kneeled down and dropped his handgun. He stood up with his hands in the air, and then made his way to the back of the car and opened the door. But before he left, he grabbed something from his belt and threw it into the crowd.

"Is that a grenade!?" Malon asked. Zelda stopped glowing as she projected a semicircular shield on top of it.

However, when it detonated, the shield wasn't enough. Zelda's shield shattered, allowing the grenade to detonate at almost full potential. It blasted a hole in the train car, allowing it to separate the first half of the front train car from the rest of the subway train. Since the first half of the car was smaller and lighter, however, it created enough momentum to derail the train, causing the train car to balance off the edge at around a forty-five degree angle.

The train was extremely unstable. Zelda could feel it tipping from even the slightest movement. The combination of the angle and debris prevented everyone from leaving the exploded side of the train, and it slided many people towards the end, causing it to tip even more.

Zelda looked up at the other half of the car, and noticed Cop 2 standing there, at the edge of the debris. He smiled evilishly and waved.

Building up her rage, Zelda channeled her energy to her fists and emitted the bow and arrow.

He never smiled again.


	17. Chapter 17

**Arc 2: On the Run**

 **Chapter 17: Rescue and Refuge**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

"Are you sure the train went this way?" Link asked. "It's kind of hard to tell, especially with all these connecting rail lines.

"From what I've heard, the K train goes directly east." Komali replied. He had his right hand sliding across the third rail, while his left hand held the compass that he had taken from the Aura Complex. He also wore a headlamp that he had gotten from... somewhere.

Link almost tripped as he felt the ground turn from a flat railway to some kind of incline.

"This incline is steep!" Link shouted. From the glow in Komali's headlamp, there didn't seem to be any stairs or ladders, or any other convenient ways up.

Trying to climb up, Link grabbed the rail that Komali was holding on to.

"That's a bad idea," Komali warned. "If the subway system were to start up again, you'd be electrocuted."

"Then, what am I supposed to do?" Link asked. Komali groaned.

"Fine. I'll fly you up to the top. Just make sure to drop your bags here. I won't be able to carry you and your bags at the same time."

Link unbuckled his backpack, as so did Komali. Komali began flapping his wings, and used his feet to carry Link up the incline into the Hateno sunlight.

"I'll go back and get the bags. You stay here." Komali ordered. Link awkwardly stood at the top, staring at the replica sword that he had 'borrowed'.

Was it really a good choice to take this thing? It was a replica, for god's sake. It wasn't even sharp, quite the opposite in fact. Even if Link were to get proficient at it, he doubted that the sword itself would do any major damage besides bruising the opponent. Was it even worth it to lug it around, even if practically any other weapon would be more useful?

He hefted it up and down. Despite its dullness, it felt... oddly natural for some reason. It wasn't too heavy to swing around, but it wasn't too light to feel awkward. If he could manage to sharpen the thing, he had a feeling that he could learn how to use it. But, as of now, it was kind of useless.

"Alright, I got the bags," Komali said, handing Link his backpack. He nodded and slid it over his shoulders.

"Now, where's the wreckage?" Link asked.

"It should be up ahead." Komali pointed. "We just have to keep walking."

* * *

"I see smoke," Komali began. Link couldn't quite see it yet, but he noted that Rito typically have better vision than Hylians. As they continued to walk closer, Link managed to see the smoke and small pieces of the wreckage, but not enough detail to understand what had happened.

"Oh, my god." Komali stuttered. "Link, we have to run."

Link looked behind them. There weren't any monsters, or policemen after them. "Why?"

"One of the subway cars is hanging off the edge! We have to get there before it tips!"

Link and Komali darted straight ahead, to see the extent of the wreckage. While the majority of the subway train seemed rather intact and on track, it was stopped and people seemed to be struggling to leave. They kept banging on the doors and attempting to pry them open, to no avail.

As they approached the front of the train, they realized that around three-quarters of the first car had somehow vanished, separated from the rest of the train.

"What happened here?" Link asked. "Komali?"

"Link! Over here!" Komali shouted. When he looked over, he noted that the last three-quarters was derailed, and hanging off the edge of the elevated railway. He ran straight up to it, and peered over to look inside. Inside, there were around twenty civilians, all either at the very end or hanging onto the seats and bars, and Malon and Zelda, who were as close to the top as possible.

"Link? Komali?" Malon asked. "Thank god you're here! Get us out of here!"

"We will, we just need a way to stabilize this first!" Komali shouted. He turned straight to Link.

"Alright, did you take basic Physics in your school?" He asked.

"No, I took Anatomy instead."

"Alright, so let's imagine this train, hanging over the edge, as a massive seesaw, with the point that the train car begins hanging being the fulcrum. As long as there's more force on the side that's touching the railway than the side that's hanging, the train won't fall."

"What're you getting at?"

"We have two options. We can either weigh down the left side, the side facing the elevated railway, or we can lighten up the weight on the opposite side. We cannot, and I mean, CANNOT, go after Malon or Zelda first, since they're weighing down this side and keeping the car more stable."

"They're not that heavy. Maybe three hundred pounds combined."

"Regardless, they're weighing this side down.

"So, we just ask these people to slowly make their way up to the top?"

"Not quite. Because of momentum, any motion of the passengers to the left and upwards will cause a slight motion of the car to the right and downwards. It's a quite minuscule difference, but it's completely possible that may cause the train to fall."

"Gee, you must be fun at parties."

"Not the time!"

"Okay, okay, so what do we do?" Link asked.

"I'll fly down and grab people on the furthest end. If I fly up with them, and they don't touch the car in any way, the law of momentum wouldn't apply to the car. As for you, just sit tight."

"Sit tight? I see, so you want me to be useless. Because I have no power? Because I have nothing that can help you?"

"Link, I'm not using my power either. It's no help in a situation like this. I'm just using what's gifted to me as a Rito to-"

"Fine. Go ahead. Use what you've been 'gifted' to save these people, while I stand by and watch. Go ahead."

"If we keep arguing back and forth like this-"

"I just want to help."

"That's fine, but we have to stop arguing! If we waste any more time, then these people are going to fall! Just make sure that you can catch the people when I'm bringing them up so they don't get injured, and I don't waste more time than I need to!"

Link rolled his eyes. Fine. He'll stand by. Komali's reasoning made complete sense. Trying to see what Komali was doing, he stood in a position where he could see everything.

Komali flapped downwards, to the ten people who were the furthest out. "Who wants to get out first?"

Every hand went up. Link noted that one of the people in the back looked around six years old.

"I'll pick this kid up first." Komali said. He grabbed the six year old and brought him up to the railway, where Link grabbed him and set him down on the ground.

"Who's the parent?" Komali asked. Two hands went up. Komali went for the dad first, brought him up to Link, then came back for the mom.

The subway car creaked a bit, then tilted slightly to their direction. "That's good, that's good." Komali said.

Komali went back and forth several times, until the subway car was practically horizontal and only Malon and Zelda were left.

"Okay, Malon. Just walk out." Komali encouraged. Malon followed, and walked out of the train. She hi-fived him with a gloved hand.

*CLUNK*

Huh? What was that?

"Zelda, walk out," He said. No response. "Zelda?"

Link looked at the train, as there was no response, only to realize that it was slowly tipping back off the elevated railway.

"Nonononono!" Komali shouted. Link ran straight up to the rest of the train, as it was slipping downwards onto the road below. He reached over the edge, and grabbed Zelda's wrist right before the rest of the train fell around her. Link was kneeled around the edge, as Zelda was hanging just by her wrist. Shifting his gaze over to the railcar, it fell to the ground and exploded.

Mustering the strength to pull her up, Link had managed to get her to safety. Zelda said nothing, but clutched him in a bear hug with tears in her eyes. Link patted her back.

"It's okay, it's okay."

Komali looked over the edge. "What was that? Why did it tip right then?"

Link looked upwards to see a helicopter, with multiple hanging weights. The sound earlier must've been one of the weights hitting the edge of the subway train. There was no way from the sky to tell that the train was empty. They tried to kill everyone. They tried to kill everyone inside just to get at Malon and Zelda. That was so fucked up.

When Zelda looked up, her face morphed from a face of sadness and relief to one of pure anger. She let go of Link, and backed up to get a good shot of the copter. Link looked in awe as her entire body: arms, face, and hair, began to glow gold. She put one of her hands out in a vertical fist formation, as the energy got funneled into her hands and projected an old-school bow right out of it. She used her other arm to pull back at the drawstring, with an arrow emitting from this hand. She aimed it directly upwards, towards the helicopter. Then, she fired.

Link didn't know what was going to happen. The helicopter wasn't open and plated in metal and what he assumed was bulletproof glass. However, all that went out of the window when Zelda's arrow shot through the glass window without breaking it, and lodged itself in the pilot's face. The helicopter went down along with the subway train, ending in a massive explosion below them.

"Zelda, what was that?" Link asked.

"Vaati did say that I might have a second power..." She trailed. Instead of saying anything else, she slung her arms around Link's neck and got in close to his face. She leaned in, and-

"Okay, lovebirds, now's not the time," Komali said. Link and Zelda jumped apart, forgetting that there were other people than just them on this elevated railway.

"Did you, of all people, just call them birds?" Malon asked.

"Shut up."

Zelda shook off what she just did and focused more on the task at hand. "Uhh... There should be ways down to the ground from or around here. Possibly a stairwell or emergency ladder."

She peeled her eyes and looked around for a bit, eventually setting her gaze on some kind of trapdoor off to the side of the track. She opened it to investigate. "Everyone! Down here!" She shouted. One by one, the survivors descended down the ladder until everyone was on the ground floor.

"What now?" Malon asked.

"Well, we continue east of course." Komali replied. "We want to get to Termina, right?"

Link nodded. "Should we get a taxi, or are we just going to walk there?"

"We have walked from the Aura Complex to here, which took way too long. And, if we look at that map that Zelda had gotten, the next major city that we'll encounter if we do make it that far and take that specific route, will be Tarrey, which is around seven times the distance from here to the Aura Complex." Komali informed.

Zelda laughed. "No way that I'm walking that. I'm already tired as is. We should find a place to lay low and regain our energy for the night."

"How do we do that? Ganon's forces already know we're here." Link said.

"That's why we're not staying in a hotel for tonight. Somewhere they wouldn't expect us to be."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the four of them were standing in front of the Hateno Junkyard.

"Really? Here?" Link asked.

"I doubt that they would expect us to be here of all places." Zelda replied. "Plus, there's plenty of places to hide in the event that policemen survey this area. And, we can practice our powers with minimal effect to the general public."

"On second thought, I don't think I got my tetanus shot recently..." Komali responded.

"Okay, look, I don't like this place more than any of you do. But, you have to admit, it will not hurt the locals if we're discovered, and I'm certain we can find things here to stay comfortable."

Link walked up to a rusty, abandoned sports car. Pulling on the handle, he noted that it was rusted shut. Pulling it with full force, the entirety of the car door had torn off, and Link was kind of holding it like a riot shield. Not wanting to deal with carrying it around, he simply dropped it on the floor and walked away.

"What time is it?" Malon asked. "Didn't that Kokiri girl tell us about some kind of curfew?"

"Yeah, she said it was supposed to be from eleven to seven. In that case, we have to avoid detection. So, I will impose a rule for us, that states that we are not allowed to leave the scrapyard after that time."

Meh. Seemed reasonable. "What do we do now?" Link asked.

"I guess, we could make ourselves comfortable." Malon suggested.

* * *

After several hours of scavenging for materials, the four had each made their own little outposts for sleeping arrangements. Zelda had found an old sofa and blankets, Malon had laid out a few couch cushions on top of a coffee table with a tapestry, and Komali had tied a large towel to two nearby metal poles to create a hammock. Link, meanwhile, elected to sleep in the car that he had ripped the door off of. For now, they were gathered around a makeshift fireplace thanks to Malon.

"Zelda, why don't you experiment with what you can do?" Malon suggested. "See if you can make anything else besides that bow appear."

"Sorry, but I don't think that's a good idea. This scrapyard just so happens to be really close to the rest of the city. If I made something that also happened to glow, I'm sure it would attract unwanted attention, and we'd be found out. It's the same for you two, too. If people noticed large amounts of smoke or jolts of visible electricity, they're bound to investigate."

"Alright, then. Let's have some fun!" Malon said. "Let's go grab random tools and destroy an old car!"

"That's not a gr-" Komali started.

"Hell yeah!" Link shouted. He ran off with Malon to go search through the scrap and junk for weapons. Komali shook his head.

"If any of us are going to end up accidentally destroying the world, it's going to be those two."

"Agreed." Zelda replied.

* * *

After reducing a somewhat worn-down car into scrap metal and shards of glass, Link and Malon returned to the meetup point with baseball bats and a hammer in hand.

"Where did you get those?" Komali asked.

"You'd be surprised by what people throw away. I mean, this bat was completely intact. Well... not anymore, but when we found it, it was intact!" Malon said.

"I don't understand why anyone would throw away a perfectly good sledgehammer. I mean, like, if you don't need it anymore, sell it on eBay or something!"

"Welp, it's late." Zelda said. "We should just get a good night's sleep."

"Wait," Komali began. "We should have one person on patrol to alert everyone if someone sneaks up on us while we're sleeping."

"That is a good point..." Zelda said. "Any volunteers?"

"I'll patrol." Link replied. "Out of all of you, I'm probably the one that needs the least sleep. I mean, Komali helped with the rescue more than I did, and Zelda and Malon came closer to dying today. So, yeah. I'll patrol tonight. You guys just rest, and we'll rotate tomorrow."

Komali tossed Link a set of pills. "What's this?" He asked.

"They're caffeine capsules. I picked them up at the Aura Complex in case we needed to be alert for a long period of time. Just, pop one every three hours. Don't take more, though, as it might have a permanent impact on your brain or get you addicted."

"Got it." He replied. "Anything else before you clonk out for the night?"

"It's not quite curfew yet. We still have around two hours, I'm guessing. I guess... we can go out and purchase groceries and supplies?" Zelda suggested.

"How do we do that?" Malon asked. "I'm sure they'll still kill us on sight."

"What if we change our appearance?" Link suggested. "Like, I'm sure they have spare clothes, hair dye, and maybe some glasses we can wear to maybe throw them off our trail."

"That's not a bad idea, actually." Zelda said. "Did you see any department stores around here?"

"I did see a Target on our way here, maybe around a block's walk from here." Malon said.

* * *

The four entered the Target department store and went straight for the hair dye section.

"Do you guys think I'd look better with brown hair, or red hair?" Link asked. "Even though we're trying to disguise ourselves, I don't want to look ugly."

"Brown hair. For sure. It'll grow out by the time we reach Labrynna, so don't worry much about it." Zelda replied. "I'll also go with brown."

"I think I'll do a dark blue." Malon said.

"Eh, are you sure? That's not a natural hair color..." Komali replied. "We're trying to disguise ourselves, not be that rebellious emo teen."

"It's not?" Malon asked. "Wait, so all those people who have blue hair are just coloring it?"

"Oh, my god, Malon." Link facepalmed. "Did you really think that people are naturally born with blue hair?"

"I was born with red hair, and you two had yellow hair, so I thought it was only natural for some people to have blue hair!"

"Technically, our hair is blonde, not yellow..." Zelda rebutted.

"Same difference."

"Whatever," Link replied.

"Nonetheless, I think you would look good with jet black." Komali said.

"Do you think so?" Malon asked.

"Yeah, I do." Komali replied. "Rito almost always have grey hair, but there are a few occasions where it's brown. It's rare, though. I guess I'll just dye my hair a darker shade of grey."

"Aren't there only like, fifty shades?" Link asked. Everyone stared at him in disapproval.

"..."

"What?"

* * *

 **And, that's a wrap on Chapter 17! This is officially the longest that I have stuck with a fic. I'm surprised that I haven't gotten bored and stopped uploading at this point.**

 **I just wanted to say that I'm intentionally keeping Link as the weakest one of the four. I plan for him to build up more steam in arc 3, as part of his character development. So, just be patient. And, by the way, I plan for the story to be composed of either 5 or 6 arcs, each with around fifteen to twenty-ish chapters. Maybe less if I get bored.**

 **I am now taking suggestions for what mishaps the group could encounter on their way to Labrynna! Just PM me (DONT leave a review to suggest something to me), and I'll take your idea into consideration if I like it enough. Please note that I will not take the following topics into consideration for obvious or various reasons: Main plotline, Giving Link a power, character death, and OC's.**

 **I will also take suggestions for new powers to give other Auras in future chapters. Keep in mind, that there can be a limit of two powers, a minor and a major one.**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading this far! I would appreciate it if you were to review and comment! It really means a lot to me.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Arc 2: On the Run**

 **Chapter 18: Informative**

* * *

 ** _~Zelda~_**

Zelda woke up to the morning sky of the majestic junkyard that they were staying in. Not wanting to expose her body to the cold, she bundled up in the blanket on the torn-up sofa and turned away from the light, putting her nose into the somewhat musky-smelling cushion. Finally unable to bear it anymore, she threw the blanket off of her and stood up, stretching her arms. In front of her was some brown-haired boy in a baseball cap.

"Uhh... sir?" She asked. The boy turned around. "Zelda? You're awake!"

Huh? This boy... knew her? "Who are you?"

"Did you forget what we did last night? You were kind of tired for the last parts, so I won't blame you if you completely forgot everything since then. But don't tell me you lost ALL your memories. Again."

That voice... was it Link? She put her knuckles to her forehead, racking her memory. "What happened... what happened..."

* * *

 **Last Night**

The four of them stood inside a public bathroom.

"I've never dyed my hair before." Malon said. "Do you want to give me some tips?"

"Don't ask the amnesiac." Zelda replied. Both Link and Komali put their hands in the air, shaking their head. Malon sighed, and simply squirted some of the dye onto her double-gloved hands (She needed to put plastic gloves over her fireproof gloves). She worked the dye into her hair, as Zelda watched. When she was done, her hair had transformed from vibrant red to pitch black.

Looking at the box of brown hair dye in her hands, she was beginning to have doubts. Would it even look good on her? What if she messed up and ended up smearing brown dye all over her face?

Then, she became determined. She had to do this to get recognized less easily. She put on the gloves, and applied the dye to her hair. Link and Komali had begun to do the same, with Link also applying brown dye, and Komali applying grey dye that was quite a bit darker than he was naturally. Once everyone had waited out the thirty minutes suggested on the box, they all washed the excess dye out and looked at their newly colored hair.

"Well.. we all look very different." Zelda laughed. "But, if you focus, you can definitely tell that it's us."

"That's why we've got the accessories." Link replied. "Come on, let's go back to the junkyard before curfew is over."

Zelda opened the bathroom door to see a thirty-year old man standing there, waiting. Obviously, it looked a little awkward and suspicious to see four teenagers leave a single-stall bathroom.

"It's not what it looks like!" Malon protested.

"Were you teens doing drugs in there?" he asked. "Or maybe... were you all fu-"

"Let's go." Komali said, pushing past the man.

* * *

 **Still Last Night**

Everyone had gathered at the junkyard, now trying to put on their own clothes. Everyone had branched off to a certain part of the junkyard to change, no one needed to see that. Zelda had replaced her cardigan with a plaid button shirt over a light blue shirt, and replaced the skirt with yoga pants for running. Her accessories were a different story. She had purchased a pair of glasses, and wore large hoop earrings. However, she still kept the necklace that she had woken up in the Aura Complex with. She couldn't help but feel like it was important or valuable.

Returning to the meetup point, she saw Link. He looked so different now! He replaced his green sweatshirt with a blue zip-up jacket. He had also replaced his jeans with sweatpants. But, he had a few fake piercings through his nose, and donned a baseball cap.

"You look so nerdy," Link said.

"You look so sporty." Zelda replied.

Out came Malon with a leather jacket and jeans. She had bundled up her now black hair in a ponytail and had a silver hair clip in it. Though, the gloves did stand out a bit. Those things didn't seem to mix well with anything.

"Wow," Zelda said.

"I'm not used to wearing a ponytail... but I really don't mind."

"Why are you wearing jeans again? We're probably going to be running a lot." Link asked.

"They're flex jeans. It won't be a problem."

Then, Komali came in last. He probably went through the least change. Instead of the traditional Rito tunic he was wearing before, he now wore a more modern black t-shirt with a puffy grey vest. He also wore what looked like clip-on silver earrings and a brown ascot cap.

"I doubt the authorities are going to catch us with appearance alone." Zelda said.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful. Anything could happen." Komali replied.

Zelda turned to Link. "You're on guard duty, correct?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Don't try to handle anything yourself. Just wake us up if anything arises."

"Got it, I know, I'm useless by myself."

"No, it's just that we have a better chance if we're all awake and fighting, or running together."

"Fine. Whatever you say."

Zelda leaned in close. "Don't think so low of yourself. Just because you don't have powers, doesn't mean you're useless. You've done so much so far."

"Like what?"

"You literally saved my life just over four hours ago. I doubt Komali could've saved me in that situation."

"But, I could've done so much more."

"No, you're doing your best. Just think about that overnight."

* * *

 **Today**

"Oh, right. How did I forget that so easily?"

"You're probably just really stressed."

"I don't doubt that." Zelda chuckled. She gripped the glasses and slipped them on her face. Judging from the refraction, they clearly weren't real prescription glasses, but they definitely looked like it if she were wearing them. She walked over to the car that Link was sitting in, and wiped the dust off the mirror.

"You were right. I really _do_ look nerdy."

She looked like one of the high schoolers who just hangs around her house and plays video games instead of going outside to hang with friends.

*CLUNK*

"What was that?" Link asked.

"I'm not sure. Let's go look. Keep your guard up"

Link and Zelda left their sleeping friends to find the source of that sound. After looking under various pieces of scrap, they had traced the sound to the top of a tall pile of used metal and car parts.

A particular green-haired Kokiri was standing there. "Oh, sorry if I was bothering you. I was looking for someone." she said. "Have you seen them? Four of them? Three hylians and a rito?"

"Saria?" Zelda asked.

"Do I know you...?"

"It's me! It's Zelda!"

Saria stared daggers at her. "Lose the glasses."

Zelda took off the glasses and stared at her.

"It really is you. Good choice with the disguise. I didn't recognize you."

She turned to Link. "And... you're Link, right?"

"Yup."

"Where's the other two?" Saria asked.

"They're sleeping."

"Fine. Take me to wherever they are. I'll explain once everyone is awake."

Zelda and Link descended down the pile of junk and led them to the area where Malon and Komali were sleeping.

"So, how did you find us?" Link asked. "Hateno is a huge city."

"I put a tracker on you after our first meeting."

"Tracker?"

"Remember that communicator that I gave to you?"

"Yeah?" Link said.

"It's on the back of that. I needed to find you and tell you more. We got cut off by that firing squad, and I didn't want to waste that one-time use of the communicator."

"What happened to you?" Zelda asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, what really happened after we left?"

"Oh, nothing interesting. After you left, most of the forces died down. I got rid of a few snipers and a few stragglers that were focused on me, specifically, but after that, I tried to find you. As it was quite late, and the tracker said that you had stopped moving for the night, I decided to leave you until today. Anything interesting happen to you?"

"You don't even know the half of it." Zelda said. "Short version: we got separated, Malon and I got on the subway, encountered two policemen, they tried to kill us, they cornered us, I found a new power, I killed one, I made the mistake of letting the second one go, he blew up the front car, the front car almost fell off the side of the elevated railway, Link and Komali came to rescue us, and we camped out here after changing our appearances."

"Oh. I heard about the railway incident. The press is covering it up as a terrorist attack, with you four being the culprits. That's part of what I'm going to talk about when the other two wake up. Just be patient."

"We just have to wait?" Link asked.

"Yeah?"

"So... what do you think about the weather?"

* * *

Malon and Komali had both woken up and adjusted their new outfits as they all sat on their respective sleeping areas, all circled around Saria.

"So, what do you want to say?" Komali asked.

"Have you had any encounters with monsters yet?"

"Eh?" Malon asked.

"I think we have... they were these weird pig things, maybe a day after we left the Aura Complex."

"Those are Bokoblins." She said. "These monsters are created by Ganondorf to help do his bidding. However, all they do is kill. They can't reason, they can't change their judgement, they can't feel emotion."

"What do you mean 'to do his bidding'?"

"They mostly exist to kill people that he doesn't like or view as a threat. Specifically, he spawns them in places that are close to those he's targeting, but they will kill practically anyone they come across, target or not. But, he can only do them in dark places. And, this also stretches out, even beyond Hyrule. He can place them in Labrynna and Termina, so be careful. He typically doesn't put them in large cities, as he has police to use, but he still does occasionally. Just, expect more monsters to show up from now on."

"Does he have some kind of vision to know where we are?" Komali asked.

"Well... no. Ganon is really smart. He probably suspected that you were going to make your way to some kind of civilization after escaping, so he put a few monsters on the most direct route. Additionally, he has several connections. Those policemen almost certainly tipped off Ganon that you were somewhere in Hateno. He'll likely put more monsters on the route from Hateno to Tarrey."

"Then, how do we deal with them?" Zelda asked.

"Just imagine these monsters as animals. They can be killed, just like any other animal. Each monster has their own pros or cons, so if something works on one monster and doesn't on a second, try something else. Some are fireproof, some spew frost, some will zap you if you let them. There are too many to explain."

"Got it." Link said. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. Ganon has marked you four as terrorists, and has blamed the subway incident on you. He put out a bounty of two hundred fifty thousand rupees for capturing each of you, dead or alive. He also spread your faces and images on the Hyrulean Internet and many posters around towns. It seems that your new appearances will make this less of an issue, but some civilians have a sharp eye. Be wary of civilians from now on, too."

Everyone nodded. It would be hard to avoid civilians, but thank god that they had changed their appearances when they did.

"The Hyrulean-Terminan border will be difficult to get across. It won't be nearly as bad as the Hyrulean-Labrynnan border, but the only conventional way in and out is if you're a governmental diplomat. There's a massive wall there, armed with heavy artillery, so climbing it is out of the question. Anyone have an invisibility power?"

"No, I don't think so," Zelda said.

"In that case, I would say your best course of action would be to fight your way through. But, even if you do make it, the Terminan border agents will try to send you back."

"Send us back? Why?" Malon asked. "If they're neutral, we should be completely safe!"

"They struck up a deal with Hyrule in exchange for no invasions or attacks. The one that you need to worry about is the rule that all insurgents from Hyrule found in Termina must be sent back. If anyone finds out that you're from Hyrule while you're in Termina, they will attempt to send you back. I highly advise not killing these people, though, since they're just doing their jobs, just stun them or run from them. They're not as brutal as the policemen here, and they won't try to kill you. But, if you do get caught and sent back to Hyrule, I am 105% certain that Ganon will order you executed."

"As for your future life in Labrynna, I think that you should learn a bit about it. It's not nearly as important as the rest of the information that I have given you, but it's worth a mention. Just like you, I was recruited by a scout for the resistance after a horrific event regarding me."

"What horrific event?" Link asked.

"I can't remember. All I know is that it ended with everyone I knew being killed, and being kind of alone."

"She probably just repressed the memory." Komali said. "Continue."

"During that time, I lived in Holodrum. I made my way from Holodrum to Termina, then to Labrynna to meet Impa. I can't say that she'll do exactly the same thing for you, but I'll recount my experiences. When I made my way to Lynna City, Impa led me to a secret base. That's where I lived. She also signed me up for school, so I lived a relatively normal life in that regard. But, after I had trained enough to use my powers in battle, Impa suggested that I train even more by becoming a 'superhero' for the city. I refused, but a few others agreed. Let me just say something about the structure of the resistance. There are three main things that you can be: Fighter, Scout, and Support. Fighter is what it sounds like. You help train, and will engage in physical combat with Ganon's forces. Scouts, of course, go out and try to recruit more people. And, support help assist in the background. Though it was dangerous, I elected to become a scout. While I was out recruiting, I received information that Impa had led an attack on Ganon, but it failed miserably. Out of fifty people fighting, only two Auras and Impa had survived, excluding the scouts who were not participating. Since then, they had moved the resistance to Symmetry City, but we've been having trouble picking up new members and things just haven't been the same."

Zelda thought about everything that Saria just said. Did all that really happen in the time that they were in the Complex? That was only around a month, right? Zelda couldn't really gauge much about the situation, especially without her memories. But, from what the others told her, this Ganon person didn't seem to rise to power until around a month ago. She shook her head in confusion. Whatever, it wasn't worth thinking about something too trivial.

"We can become superheroes! Real, legit superheroes?" Malon asked.

"That's right. Although I wasn't a superhero, the two Auras who survived definitely were. I'm not sure if they've been saving Symmetry City from crime like they did in Lynna City, but they're nice and powerful people. You'll just deal with minuscule crime, such as robberies or fights. Occasionally, there might be something big, but you don't have to worry much about that unless Impa decides to attempt an attack at Ganon. Nothing's mandatory, you can choose to step in or let the police handle it. The only thing that's mandatory is participation in an attack against Hyrule."

"There's also something else that you need to know about your powers. I doubt that Vaati brought this up to you, but now that your powers are awakened, you have slight enhancements to your natural abilities. You have an average of around half increase in your running speed, up to ten times increase in your jumping, and more endurance."

"Oh, yeah!" Link said. "I totally saw you jump up that building!"

"It wasn't exactly one jump. For me at least, I can jump up to thirteen feet. I was simply jumping up one story at a time, then using the windowsills to continue jumping."

"You're saying we can do that too?" Malon said, excited.

"You only unlocked your abilities a few weeks ago, correct? It builds up over time. It should be fully developed in maybe around four months, but you should be noticing a difference maybe around a week from now."

"I see..." Zelda said. "Anything else you need to tell us before we leave for Tarrey?"

"Nothing in particular. I suggest taking a bus, however. The main station should be around four blocks east from here, and I believe they depart daily at 9 PM, so you should buy your tickets at around 7:30. And, by the way, you're excused from the curfew if you're in a long-term mode of transport, such as train, bus, and plane. You just cannot leave the transportation until the curfew is lifted. You should arrive at around five in the morning, so you'll just have to lounge around until seven."

"Got it." Link said. "Nothing else?"

"I've contacted a scout in Tarrey to help you four out. Look out for a Zora with blue crystal earrings. Expect more policemen and more monsters, be careful, and don't die. That's it. Any questions?"

"I can't think of anything else," Malon said. She turned to the rest of them. Zelda shrugged as the other two fell quiet.

"If there's something urgent, use the communicator. Remember, you can only use it once." Saria replied. "Also, ditch the tracker. You don't want the government hacking into that."

Zelda grabbed the communicator and peeled the red tracker off the backside. Meanwhile, Saria scratched the back of her neck. "You have a few hours to kill. May I recommend a good restaurant?"

* * *

Saria led the four in front of a very average-looking restaurant 'Golden Garden'. Looking inside, it was pretty busy, but there wasn't a line or anything.

"I frequent this place a lot," Saria said. "They have really good catfish here, and it's quite inexpensive. But for now, I have to split to look for more recruits. Hopefully, I'll see you again."

Saria ran right across the somewhat empty street and then jumped on a few windowsills to reach the roof of a low-laying building. She waved one last time before leaping downwards on the other sides.

"That's amazing," Link said. "I wish that I could do that."

She could tell that Link was still jealous. Not just of what Saria could do, but what everyone could do. The four sat down at a table on the terrace right underneath an awning.

"What're you going to order?" Link asked. "I'll take the catfish, if Saria recommended it. Umm... found it. Buttermilk Fried Catfish. That's a steal for only sixty rupees."

"Hmm..." Malon said. "I think I'll just have the steak."

"I'll have the mussels," Komali said. "Damn, only one twenty rupees?"

"I guess... I'll try the salmon" Zelda shrugged. The waiter arrived as they began giving their orders. As the waiter left, everyone slumped over their table.

"I don't know if I can keep up with this lifestyle." Komali said. "I'm already beat after what happened yesterday. If we keep up with this every day, I might just keel over and die."

"Don't think so negatively." Malon replied. "Once we get into Labrynna, it sounds like we'll get back into a semi-ordinary life."

"Yeah, if semi-ordinary means training for taking down an evil dictator and living life as a superhero with our lives on the line," Komali replied.

"We're not ordinary people, though." Zelda said. "We do have these powers. This is the kind of thing it seems like we were meant for."

"Speak for yourselves." Link responded. Everyone fell silent.

"Link, do you need to talk?" Zelda asked.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. It's only natural that I'd be envious about the awesome powers that you have."

"It's alright, just talk to us." Malon said, wiping her now-black hair out of her face.

Link sighed. "It's just, when I was younger, I was always a fan of superheroes. I always thought of how awesome that would be. If you were to see my room, you'd understand what i'm talking about. I'd have superhero posters, figurines, and old toys. I wanted nothing more than to become one. Of course, I knew that would be impossible as I grew up. But, when I see you three using your powers to save yourselves, to save others, I... I just feel left out. It's not the issue that I have no powers that irritates me, it's the issue that I'm the _only_ one without powers, and I'm in the exact same situation as all of you. Why, of all people, did those redshirts choose to kidnap me as their sole control subject?"

"You don't know that." Zelda said. "Maybe Vaati had some other people in there as control subjects?"

"No. I remember perfectly well that he said I was the only control subject."

"Maybe he was bluffing?"

"Why would he bluff?" Link asked.

"I mean, for many experiments, especially for psychological ones, you kind of lie to the participants so that they believe one thing that's not quite true. It's possible that they were lying to you to see if you'd develop your powers if you believed you were an average person?"

The waiter arrived and planted each plate in front of each person. "Thank you," Malon said.

Link grabbed his fork and poked at the fried catfish. "That's definitely a possibility, but Vaati's acting was way too on point for me to believe that was just part of an experiment."

"Vaati's acting?" Komali asked, wide-eyed. "What do you mean?"

"He acted like I was below everyone else. Like he could execute me at any time, that he had no qualms about punishing me for minuscule things. He also threw me out of the labs as forcefully as he could, and spoke to me in an extremely condescending tone. It was as if I was no use to him."

Zelda fell silent. There was nothing that she could say.

"And, now, I feel like I'm no use to you. That you'd be better off without me weighing you down."

"You're not weighing us down," Komali said. "Without you, I probably wouldn't have believed that the girls were on the same train that crashed, and I wouldn't have been as quick and reckless as you were to get on the tracks. I probably would've stalled long enough to allow the train to fall off the elevated railtrack."

"That's true, but we would've been on the train if I hadn't stalled," Link replied.

"If you hadn't stalled, we'd probably be dead." Zelda said. "The outcome would still be the same. The policemen would've still blown up the train, and it would've still gone off the track. The only difference would be that we'd all be trapped in the subway car, and there wouldn't be anyone on the outside to help save us."

Link mashed the catfish under the side of his fork, then brought it up to his mouth. "Mmm hmm." He replied. "Oh, this is delicious."

There was nothing more to say. Zelda looked at her plate of salmon, then shred a flake off the side. "This is so much better than the food in the Aura Complex. I'm surprised this was only ninety five rupees."

"If we weren't running for our lives, I'd probably come here on the regular," Komali said. He stuck a mussel into his mouth and then popped out the shell.

Looking out towards the road, she noticed three policemen patrolling the neighborhood.

"Guys!" Zelda urged. "Three cops! Act normal! Don't stare, and don't completely avoid eye contact."

The cops began walking towards them, and walked directly next to the restaurant's terrace. They took a glance at Zelda, then stopped.

Zelda was almost shaking. Could they see through her disguise?

"Ma'am." the first policeman said.

"Yes, officer?" Zelda replied. She was almost shaking in fear.

The policeman was silent for a second as the policeman stared straight at her.

"Have you noticed any supernatural activity around here?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, officer," Zelda feigned, quivering.

"I guess that's a no." The officer looked straight up at the other three. "Did you three see anything unnatural? Like a plume of fire where there shouldn't be one? Or a random jolt of electricity?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Chief is going to kill us if we don't find them..." the second cop muttered. "Thank you for your time."

The policemen walked away and turned around the corner. Zelda slumped over the table in relief, almost crashing into her plate of salmon.

"I guess... the whole hair dye and clothes change thing was a good move." Zelda said. She used her fork and dove straight into her plate of salmon on a bed of couscous.

* * *

Once everyone was finished, they had flagged the waiter and asked for their check.

"That was beyond delicious." Komali said. "I haven't been this stuffed since we left the Complex!"

"That was only around three days ago, Komali," Zelda assured. Though, with everything that's been going on, it definitely seemed much longer. Everything changed the moment that they had stepped outside. The Aura Complex was almost nothing but a distant memory. It was as if it were all a dream, a dissociation that had never happened.

But, it would be something that she would never forget.


	19. Chapter 19

**Arc 2: On the Run**

 **Chapter 19: Ghirahim**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

The sun had fallen, and the moon was now high in the sky. Sitting in a bus terminal were the four juvenile Auras, awaiting their transport to Tarrey.

As there was nothing going on, and Link barely had anything to talk about, he decided to look around the terminal. Having never ridden a bus that wasn't a city bus, it's only natural that he would look around. The terminal wasn't enclosed, but it did have a lit roof over their heads. There were around six long rows of benches for this single bus, half of which were full. He bided his time by staring at the buses that were leaving the station while they were waiting. A bus to Castle Town, a bus to Kakariko, and... a bus to Lurelin.

Link needed all of his strength to resist the urge to hop on that Lurelin bus and go home. To see the damage that Ganon had caused. To see his family. To see if Aryll was still alive. However, he knew that wasn't his best interest right now.

He noted a telephone booth maybe around thirty feet from where they were currently sitting. Then, an idea lit up in his head. Looking at his companions, he noticed they were all sleeping right now. Link, personally, was waiting for the bus ride itself to get some shut-eye, especially after staying up the night before to be on alert. This was beneficial to him for now, as he knew either Zelda or Komali would scold him for what he was going to do.

Careful not to disturb her, Link slowly reached into Zelda's pocket and pulled out the wallet with all of their rupees in it. After extracting a blue rupee, he planted it back in her pocket and stood up to get to the phone booth.

Inserting the small pocket change into the rupee-shaped slot, he picked up the phone and dialed his home phone number.

*RIIIIING RIIIIING*

*SLAM* _"Hello? Who is this?"_

The voice didn't sound like anyone that Link recognized, but he attributed it to the fact that the phone booth was kind of crappy quality. If he focused, he kind of sounded like his dad.

"Hi, it's me!"

 _"Who?"_

"It's Link. I'm not dead."

 _"Congrats on not being dead, but I know no one by that name. You probably have the wrong number."_

"Is this Joseph Shields?"

 _"Uhh... no. My name is John Layman."_

With that, this John Layman guy hung up. He walked back to Zelda to retrieve another blue rupee, and then tried again. Being careful to type in the correct phone number, even the area code, he called again.

"Hello? Is this Joseph Shields?" Link asked.

 _"No, it's still me. You called the same number again. I would appreciate it if you stopped calling."_

"Hang on, is this 294 Roquefort Street?"

 _"No. Now please stop calling before I report you to the authorities."_

He hung up once again.

Obviously, something had happened and some new person had the old home phone address. But, it just made him wonder more about what had happened while Link was gone. Did they abandon the house too? Did they move and take refuge? Or... maybe they're all imprisoned and dead.

Link shook his head. Whatever happened, he wouldn't be able to figure it out in a while. His parents never carried personal phones, and Aryll was too young to own one, so there went his only source of contacting his family. And, it would be too dangerous to go to Lurelin in person, as Vaati and Ganondorf probably anticipated that. Regardless, he still had high hopes.

Accepting defeat, he returned to his seat on the bench next to the three passed-out teens and awaited for the bus to begin boarding.

* * *

 _ **We are now boarding bus 27 to Tarrey. Please line up outside the bus to check tickets.**_

Link sighed and shook everyone awake.

"Eh? What? What happened?" Malon asked.

"They're boarding." Link replied. Zelda and Komali slowly stood up and wiped the sleep out of their eyes.

Link, Zelda, Malon, and Komali all lined up and patiently waited to board. Once the ticketholder checked their tickets, they each walked up and boarded the bus.

It was a slow and tedious process, but they got through it. In due time, Malon, Zelda, and Komali had each boarded the bus.

"Sorry, sir." The bus driver said. "I can't let you board with that."

The driver pointed at Link's sword, nestled in his large backpack but with the hilt sticking out.

"If you want to bring that, you have to put it in the storage underneath the bus."

Link sighed and nodded, throwing the sword and backpack into the bus storage. After that, he boarded the bus.

The bus was very similar to an airplane cabin. There was one single aisle, with two rows of seats on either side. There was also an overhead storage for carry-on items, which Malon, Zelda, and Komali had all stored beforehand. Link took his seat next to Malon, with Zelda and Komali directly behind them.

Having not slept in over twenty four hours, Link was struggling to stay awake, even with the caffeine pills that he had gotten last night.

"It's alright, Link. Just sleep. We'll wake you up if there's any disturbance." Komali said. Link made no complaints as he took off his baseball cap and placed his head against the somewhat comfortable bus seat. He closed his eyes and let the sleep welcome him.

* * *

Link opened his eyes to find himself not in the bus, but in what looked like some kind of interrogation room. It was a small room, maybe around half the size of his room in the Aura Complex. It was almost completely empty except for the door to his left, and the table and (presumably) one-sided mirror in front of him. He attempted to stand up to investigate, but was restrained. Turning his head, he noticed that his legs were strapped to the legs of his chair, and his hands were cuffed behind him. Futher, he noticed that his clothes were back to the ones that he was wearing in the Aura Complex, and viewed his natural blonde hair in the one-way mirror.

"Where am I?" Link asked. There was no response. He continued struggling through his chains and bonds as the room's door opened as a man walked in. This guy was pale, had long, white, emo-like hair, and was wearing a primarily white outfit with a red cape.

"There's no use struggling." He said, in a very calm voice. Link stopped struggling.

"Who are you?" Link asked. "Were did you take me? Where are my friends?"

"Your friends? They haven't even noticed that anything has happened to you."

"What? Maybe unless they're sleeping, but still, they'll come after you eventually when they notice I'm gone!"

"How so? Will they really be concerned when your own sleeping body is laying alongside them?"

"Huh?" Link asked. "What do you mean?"

"Your real body is asleep, back wherever you were before I took you. However, your consciousness is here, in this specific room."

"How? Y-You're bluffing! You kidnapped me!"

"I'm not lying."

"Then, how can I be here right now, huh? I sure know for certain I can't astroproject!"

"You think that all Auras are on the run from Lord Ganondorf? That every Aura is a teen like you? That every Aura is Lord Ganondorf's enemy?"

"You're an Aura? Who are you?" Link asked. This man chuckled.

"My name is Ghirahim. And after that miserable Vaati failed in keeping you in the Complex, Lord Ganondorf has installed me as leader of the Terrorist Tracking Unit."

"We're not terrorists! You're the ones who labeled us like that!"

"The public doesn't know better. Even if they did, there's nothing they could do about it. Regardless, when I catch you five, I'm going to have all of you killed, and nothing you said or did will matter. You will be gone, labelled as a criminal, and forgotten entirely."

"Five?" Link asked. "Don't group us with Groose. He's probably gone and gotten himself killed by now."

"Whatever." Ghirahim chuckled.

"Are you going to kill me now?" Link asked.

Ghirahim laughed. He just laughed. "What I have in front of me is nothing but your consciousness. Even if I were to hurt you now,"

Ghirahim quickly pulled out a knife and lodged it in Link's chest. He reeled from the shock, but somehow didn't feel it, even though it was sticking out of him. "You wouldn't feel it, and you wouldn't die. I'd have to physically kill your body in order for you to die."

"Then what's the point of bringing me here!?"

"Maybe to get information out of you. Maybe to introduce myself. Maybe to show you what you're up against. Maybe to chat over lunch. Who cares?"

"You're not getting any information out of me." Link said.

"We have our ways, and we will find and kill you." Ghirahim replied.

"Your efforts will be pointless when we get to Labrynna! You and that Ganon guy will have no influence! We'll be shielded by the Labrynnan government!"

"Oh? So you're heading to Labrynna?" Ghirahim asked, eyebrow raised.

"Shit." Link replied.

"I doubt that someone who escaped from that heavily guarded complex would be stupid enough to run across the Hyrulean-Labrynnan border. And, given that you were last sighted on an eastbound subway in Hateno, presumably you'd be headed to Tarrey? I'll keep that in mind."

"Are you going to talk to my friends like this? Are you going to bring them here?"

"Heh, no." Ghirahim replied. "For some reason, my power doesn't work on Auras. Luckily, they had you in their group to help me get all the information that I need. Now, get a good night's rest. Enjoy your life while you can."

Ghirahim gripped Link's forehead, and threw him backwards.

* * *

Link jolted awake, causing Malon to recoil in surprise.

"You scared the crap outta me!" Malon shouted.

"Are you okay?" Zelda asked.

"Yeah, I-i'm fine." Link replied. "I just had a really weird dream, but it might be important. I'll tell you when there aren't so many people around."

He looked out the window to see darkness. "Where are we? How long has it been?"

"It's four AM. You've gotten maybe around seven hours of rest." Komali replied. "one more hour to go."

"Not to mention that we're going to have to wait two hours on this bus before we can disembark." Zelda brought up.

Suddenly, everyone was thrown to the right by some sort of inertia. The bus swerved!

Link and Zelda were pulled to the right, but Malon and Komali weren't as lucky. The inertia caused both their heads to smack against the side of the bus.

"Ah!" Malon shouted.

"What the hell?" Komali asked.

The bus slowed to a stop. The driver stood up and left the bus.

"What happened?" Malon asked. Link shrugged. Everyone waited for a few minutes.

"Dammit! Where is he?" Link asked, impatient. He sighed in relief as he heard a few footsteps come up from the side of the bus.

But, it became apparent that those steps were not those of the bus driver. Standing at the very front, was a huge pig-like thing. It was similar to the Bokoblin that they encountered earlier, but was taller, had a large horn on its head, and looked stronger. It wielded a spiked club.

The bus was overwhelmed by screams. The monster brought its club down on the first two rows of the left side, causing a massive splatter of blood. Screams and cries erupted as everyone unbuckled, but couldn't get off the bus as the monster was in their way.

"Oh, god, no!" Malon shouted. "We have to fight!" She said.

The monster brought its club down on the right side, but was stopped by a bluish-clear shield. Link turned straight to Zelda, who had her left hand out. "Finish him off with the sword!"

"I don't have the sword! It's below the bus!"

"Then get below the bus!"

The monster repeatedly smashed against the shield, with the people below it hugging each other and getting down low.

The shield vanished as Zelda fell to her knees, gripping the side of the seat for support. Komali shot a bolt of electricity at the monster, causing it to get stunned and collapse backwards. However, it got back on its feet. Komali did it again.

"Malon, melt a hole in the floor!" Komali commanded. Malon nodded and took off her right glove. She pressed her hand against the floor of the bus, causing it to get red hot.

"Any time now!" Komali urged.

"I'm sorry, but this metal is taking some time to melt!" Malon shouted. Right then, her hand went straight through the floor and into the storage compartment. She gripped the sides of the hole to expand it a bit more.

"It's your turn, Link!" She said. Link bent over and searched the dark compartment for his bag. His hands wrapped against the hilt of the sword as he pulled it out.

It was then that Zelda regained some of her energy. She created the bow of light in her left hand, then shot a light arrow straight at the monster. However, unlike the cops, this monster just pulled the arrow straight out of his body, and threw it to the side. It stared right at Zelda, and began ignoring the rest of the passengers.

"Oh, lovely." Komali said. "Link! You've got the sword, right? Use it!"

"It's really dull! All it'll do is smack that thing around!"

"There's a whetstone in my bag!"

"Why?"

"I picked it up at the scrapyard! Now, sharpen it like your life depends on it, because it does!"

Link reached into Komali's bag and searched its contents. Meanwhile, Zelda created a shield spanning the width of the bus to prevent the monster from coming any closer. Link's hands wrapped around a rectangular stone, and pulled it out. He gripped the sword and began furiously striking it up and down the blade. Zelda collapsed once again, as Komali continued barraging it with jolts of electricity. Luckily, most of passengers in the front got off as the monster had passed them, but there were several passengers in the back of the bus that needed helping.

Malon joined the fight by sending a small flamethrower at the monster, but it didn't seem to do anything.

"Link! Any time now!" Komali urged. Link threw aside the whetstone and ran straight up to the monster. He swung once at the monster's head, but it blocked it with the club. With its belly exposed, he kneed it in the stomach, then swung at the chest. Black ooze began seeping out, as Link body-slammed it onto the floor. Using his sword, he stabbed it straight in the chest, twisting the sword to cause maximum damage. The monster stopped moving, but he needed to make sure it was dead. He walked over the body, then stabbed the sword straight through the monster's head and brain.

His proof was delivered as the body melted into black sludge, then evaporated into nothingness.

"You did great, Link!" Zelda said, running up to hug him. She immediately stopped, though, as she noticed the black sludge all over Link's jacket. He replied by taking off the jacket and embracing Zelda in a huge hug. He gave her a small peck on the lips.

"Bold of you to make out in front of four dead bodies," Komali said.

"Jeez, you're such a cockbock!" Link shouted.

"I'm not kidding, you're literally standing in front of the four people that monster killed.

They looked to their left to see the four sadly mutilated bodies of the monster's first victims, all marinated in a pool of dripping blood. A high scent of iron permeated through the air.

"We have to leave. There's no way that we can stay on this bus. We have to walk the rest of the way to Tarrey." Zelda said. They all disembarked from the bus to see the survivors standing there, all looking worried.

"What?" Link asked.

"Who are you? What are you?" A woman asked, shielding her toddlers behind her.

"We're not going to hurt you." Zelda assured. She took one step towards them, as they all flinched and took a step backwards.

"Get away from us." A man said.

"We saved your lives, at least show us some appreciation!" Link shouted.

The atmosphere was tense.

"Come on, guys. Let's go." Komali said. "They're not going to appreciate us anyways."

Everyone agreed as they began walking into the woods.

* * *

The four rested by the side of a forest creek. Link was currently washing off his zip-up jacket to get rid of all the disgusting, foul-smelling black sludge.

"At least it's not as cold here," Malon said.

"Agreed." Zelda replied. She cracked open a bag of beef jerky and shared it with everyone.

"My hands are busy." Link said. "Just put it my mouth."

"That sounds really bad out of context," Malon said. Zelda rolled her eyes and stuck a piece of beef jerky in Link's open mouth.

"Thanks." Link replied. With enough scrubbing, Link had gotten out all of the sludge and had hung the jacket on a tree to dry.

After a long silence, Komali broke it.

"I'd be surprised if I got out of here with my mental state unscathed." he said. "This is the most traumatizing thing that I have ever experienced."

No one could do anything but nod.

"Should we rest here or just start walking?" Zelda asked.

"We should rest here. I have no idea what they'll do to us if any authorities see us out during curfew." Komali replied.

* * *

Everyone took a nap until the sun was somewhat high in the sky. Luckily for Link, Ghirahim didn't make an appearance.

That reminded him. He still hasn't told them about Ghirahim, but he still wasn't sure about whether it was a dream or not. He might as well, better safe than sorry.

Once everyone was awake and almost ready to move, Link began speaking.

"Last night, on the bus, I had a dream involving a man named Ghirahim." He said. "I know it just sounds like a dream, but I felt like it was real."

"I'm listening," Zelda said. Malon and Komali said nothing.

"He said that he is also an Aura, and works for Ganon. He's Ganon's head of the Terrorist Tracking Unit, created solely to track us down and kill us. Though he didn't say it, he implied that his power was that he could bring our consciousness to him in our sleep, and talk to us. Unfortunately, I managed to let some things slip, like how we are headed to Labrynna. From that, he deduced that we're heading to Tarrey."

"God dammit, Link!" Komali burst. He then relaxed a bit. "Fine. We should get to Tarrey regardless of whether or not Ghirahim knows about us. We should get into contact with that scout."

"I didn't say anything about us being disguise, though. I think we're probably fine."

"You never know. We should be on guard regardless." Zelda replied. "Now, how far are we from Tarrey?"

"The bus incident was only around an hour away, so I'd say maybe around fifty miles?" Komali guessed.

Malon sighed. "My legs are going to fall off after this."

* * *

"Have you contacted them?" A dark voice said.

"Yes, I have contacted the powerless." Ghirahim replied. "I have vital information, Lord Ganondorf."

"Go ahead. Tell me."

"Four of the five have gone off as a group towards Tarrey. Their ultimate goal is to travel to Labrynna, and seek asylum."

"As for the last straggler?"

"His status remains unknown. It is likely that he has been dealt with already by local forces."

"I will place a few more monsters between Hateno and Tarrey. As for you, you have two weeks, by February 13, to capture the group of four. If you are incapable of capturing the four by midnight of that evening, you will be sent to the same place as the degenerate Vaati."

"I understand, Lord. I won't let you down. But, I have one question I would like to ask."

"I'm listening."

"What about the fifth escapee? Groose Prescott?"

"Assuming he is still alive, I will deal with him myself. You need not worry about his status. Please focus your efforts on the larger group."

"Yes, milord."

* * *

 **So... I've finally introduced the main villain of Arc 2 to you guys! I'm kind of bent on how to give Ghirahim a lasting impact, given that our main characters are currently on the run, but I'll figure something out. Also, sorry for the delay in posting. I'll do my best to stay on schedule.**

 **One last thing... I'm beginning to run out of ideas on what kind of issues the four could run into on their way to Labrynna. I don't want to rush it and immediately go into arc 3, but I don't really want to write seven chapters of everyone just walking. That being said... I'm probably going to have to input some filler chapters into here. But, if you have a suggestion, don't be afraid to let me know!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Arc 2: On the Run**

 **Chapter 20: Tarrey**

* * *

 ** _~Zelda~_**

Zelda panted. How long had it been since they started walking? She didn't know, but at least the sun was high in the sky. They were far away from the Aura Complex for the temperature to be bearable without the heavy jackets that they had acquired from the abandoned cabin, so they had left them on the side of the road.

Ever since the bus incident, it was smooth sailing. They hadn't encountered any other monster since, but it was enough to keep everyone on edge.

Nothing interesting happened. All they did was... walk.

Within due time, they arrived at a sign. A sign that stated:

 ** _Tarrey: 3 Miles_**

Their journey was unsurprisingly reminiscent of when they had left the Aura Complex. No one talking, everyone simply walking to their next destination.

"How much longer?" Malon complained.

"Three miles, do you not know how to read?" Komali replied. "Sorry. I'm just exhausted"

* * *

It was now that the cold Hyrulean forests began to dissipate to form old-looking houses. They were spread apart, made of brick, with several vines and plants climbing up the facades.

Meanwhile, in the background, the houses began to get more concentrated. Near the center of the city were tall buildings, surrounded by smaller ones. However, none were tall enough to consider them skyscrapers.

They kept walking until they were deep enough in the city to reach a park. Gathering her breath, Zelda sat down on a park bench right in front of a fountain while the others followed her example.

"Who are we looking for, again?" Link asked. "I forgot what Saria said."

"We're looking for a Zora with blue crystal earrings, if I recall." Zelda replied. "I'm guessing she's a girl, but really, that's a somewhat vague description."

As talkative as Zelda was, her mind was racing. She couldn't forget the incident with the bus that was just a couple of hours ago. If they weren't there, would those four innocent passengers still be alive? Would all those people in Hateno still be alive?

They're the good guys, right?

Everyone was exhausted after walking that distance. She estimated that it was maybe around thirty-five miles from the bus to where they were now.

Malon opened her bag and tossed a bottle of water to each person. "Are you okay? You look like you're overthinking something."

"I'm fine. Let's just get to Labrynna as fast as we can."

* * *

Everyone sat for, maybe around an hour, panting and sitting back on the bench. They were so absorbed in trying to regain their energy that no one noticed that a cop had shown up.

"What're you kids doing?" he asked. It took Zelda by surprise so much that she jumped back.

"Eh?" Zelda asked. "What do you mean?"

"You kids have been here for a very long time. Are you up to something?"

"No, we're just kind of tired." Link said, which technically wasn't a lie.

"You four are an... odd combo." the cop replied. "You look like a normal civilian, geeky girl, biker, and rich boy. Are you four really friends?"

"Uhh..." Komali trailed, nervously quivering. "Y-Yeah. You know, o-opposites attract."

"I never get youth these days..." the cop said. "By the way, I recommend you get on the move. If you stay here for too long, you'll be labelled as loitering, and we'll have to deal with you."

Zelda nodded and directed everyone to stand up. The cop walked away as she gave a sigh of relief.

"He really doesn't recognize us, huh?" Zelda said. "We did good work with the dye and stuff."

Malon didn't respond, sat her bag down on the ground, and cracked open a can of beans.

"Hey!" Link shouted. "Care to feed the rest of us?"

She pulled the can towards herself. "I'm hungry."

Zelda sighed. "Just open something else in the bag."

"We can't re-seal these cans." Link said. "We're going to waste food if we can't finish it."

"Don't worry, we can just buy more food at a shop or something." Zelda replied. "Komali, how much money do we have?"

Komali searched around his pockets, then came up short. "Oh, it's in my backpack, give me a second."

She bent down and froze. Zelda's gaze directed downwards to see an open space right below Komali.

"Uhh..." Komali said, growing as pale as flour. "You didn't move it, right? I had it when the policeman was here."

Zelda looked upwards to see a twelve-year-old boy running out of the park with Komali's backpack in his hand.

"Oh, jeez" Zelda said, instantly darting after him. Everyone else took their time putting on their backpacks (with Komali putting on Zelda's bag), but Zelda wasted no time.

The kid noticed this while looking backwards. Now, running as fast as he could, he began to jaywalk through a red crosswalk light, causing a few honks and a few cars to bump into each other. Now that the traffic was somewhat stopped, Zelda went around the car wreck and continued after him.

 _This kid's fast. I'll never catch up to him._

Then, an idea popped up into Zelda's head. What if she were to use her shield without anyone noticing?

She outstretched her arm towards the boy, and tried to form a small shield that protruded maybe around five inches from the floor. The kid didn't notice and tripped over it, causing him to faceplant on the ground with a grunt. Swiftly walking up to him, she grabbed Komali's backpack and slung it over her back.

This kid, probably knowing he was defeated, didn't make an attempt to stand back up. In a few minutes, Komali and Malon caught up to her.

"Where's Link?" She asked.

Just then, Link arrived at the scene, panting.

"You guys are getting fast," he panted. Maybe it was the speed increase that Saria explained. Or maybe Link was just out of shape.

Link waddled over to the boy. "What were you doing?" He scolded. The boy whimpered backwards, a few tears falling.

The door of the house they were in front of opened, revealing a middle-aged couple and a young, maybe eight year-old girl.

"Darton?" the woman asked. "What is going on out here?"

"You!" the man said, pointing straight at their group. "What did you do to my son?"

"We didn't do anything!" Malon protested. "He stole our bag and we chased him here!"

"Hmm..." the woman replied. "Darton!? Did you steal these nice kids' bag?"

"Yes, mother," he replied, slowly nodding his head.

"Get back in here! We need to talk!" the father shouted. He then looked straight at the four. "We humbly apologize. This is the third time he's done this. Please, please, come inside. Dinner's almost ready."

Zelda was about to object, but she figured that they should take any free food or recovery that they could get their hands on. These people seemed nice enough.

* * *

"Nice place you've got here." Malon said. She wasn't wrong. It was a small house, typical for a middle-class family, but it was quite nice. The front door opened out into a hybrid of a dining room and a living room, with the kitchen distinguished by a transition from hardwood to tile. There was a small hallway in the back. It certainly wasn't a mansion, but it was somewhere Zelda would be happy to live if this entire situation died down.

The young girl ran up to her mother and tugged at her dress. "Momma, what's for dinner? I'm hungry!"

"Quiet down, Nat, we have guests!" the mother replied. "Spaghetti."

Nat raised her hands up in the air. "Yay!" she shouted.

She ran away, presumably to her room.

The mother and father gestured for them to sit down at the table. They placed steaming plates of spaghetti in front of them, as well as forks and cups of water.

"So, are you four... travelers?" the mother asked. "Those are quite some hefty bags you have there."

"I guess you could say that..." Zelda replied, trying to be cautious enough that it wouldn't give their status away.

"What are your names?" she asked. "I'm Sorelia, and that's my husband Regan."

Zelda held out a finger at the rest of them, inconspicuous enough to send the message to Malon, Link, and Komali without attracting suspicion from Sorelia and Regan.

"My name is... Hilda. I'm Hilda." she said.

"That's a nice name," Regan said, shaking hands with 'Hilda'. After that, Regan stood up and went around back.

"Those are my friends... uhh... Romani, Green, and Quill."

Link instantly shot her a menacing look, enough to make her very uncomfortable. She could admit, she wasn't really good with fake names. For 'Romani', Zelda literally thought of the milk brand that was present in the Aura Complex, the most common one being Romani Ranch. For Link, she instantly just thought of whatever clothes he was wearing when she first met him. She didn't even know any traditional Rito names, so she just took Komali's last name. It seemed to fit well enough.

"So," Sorelia began. "What brings you to Tarrey?"

"We're just passing through. Trying to get to..."

Zelda tried to mentally recall the map. What was the closest city to Labrynna that she could think of?

"Lakeside. We're trying to get to Lakeside."

"Ah... Lakeside." she replied. Zelda tried to avoid any further questions by stuffing her face with spaghetti.

"We humbly apologize for the actions of our son." Sorelia said.

Zelda heard a smack, then screaming.

"Is he okay?" Komali asked.

"He's fine, it's just a little spank." she replied. "I'm glad you didn't call the cops. If they arrived, he'd probably be with Grandma by now. Why don't you stay here for the night? You can use our guest room in the back. Our treat."

"We will gladly take you up for that offer." Link replied.

Zelda nodded in agreement. Though she didn't like to intrude, this would save them money that they would normally use for a cheap run-down hotel.

"Feel free to treat yourself to anything in the fridge. Just... don't go overboard. We'll call the police if things get out of hand."

Zelda shuddered. If the police were called, even for something minimal, they would be executed.

* * *

Once the four were finished eating the food, they had made their way to the guest room so that their hosts could eat as a family. The guest room was quite small, maybe around the size of their dorm room back at the Aura Complex. There were two twin-sized beds on the left side, a large mirror with a desk on the right, and a window to the backyard.

"Green?" Link asked "Seriously? Green?"

"Sorry, I couldn't think of a good name for you."

"Fine. Tomorrow, we'll be out of here, and we probably won't ever see them again." Link replied.

"They're quite bold, giving free reign of their house to a group of teenagers they never met." Komali said.

"They probably know we won't risk doing anything shady with the real threat of execution." Zelda said. "Stealing a hundred rupee item isn't worth death."

"Do you think they'll find us?" Komali asked, dramatically looking out the window. "I mean, we did well with the disguises and everything, but don't you think they could get info on us by interrogating the people from the bus?"

"I guess..." Zelda said. "I didn't see any cameras on the bus, so it's probably from testimony and won't be totally accurate, but we should still be on guard. We can't loosen up until we get to Labrynna."

"Even if we do get to Labrynna..." Link began. "I don't think our lives will go back to normal. Saria mentioned something about a Yiga Clan who try to enforce his rule outside of Hyrule? Even if we choose to not join the Resistance, they'll be a huge thorn in our sides."

"That's right, but at least we'll have the Labrynnan Government on our side."

Zelda collapsed backwards onto the bed and instantaneously fell asleep from the sheer exhaustion of walking for so long.

* * *

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Zelda opened her eyes, still half-asleep. Pushing herself up, she could make out the dark room and the figure of Malon next to her. The two boys were on the other bed.

Stretching her arms, she got on her feet and walked towards the door. She remembered there being a peephole in it, so she could see who it was without them seeing her.

On her way, she passed several clocks that displayed the current time: 12:30 AM. It was way past curfew, and the rest of the family was likely asleep. Who would be knocking on their door at this hour?

She figured two possibilities. The first was that it was that scout that Saria had contacted. The second was the chance that it was the policemen and they had somehow found their location.

It was a risky move, checking the door like this, but she needed to check no matter what. If it was the scout, she needed to talk with her. If it was the authorities, they needed to run as far as possible.

She advanced towards the door and positioned her eye over the peephole. To her dismay, it was the policemen. Three to be exact.

"Oh, Din!" she muttered. They banged on the door again, harder this time. Sorelia and Regan would definitely wake them up, and they would have no choice but to rat them out.

She swiftly ran back to the room and shook everyone awake.

"W-what?" Malon asked. "You interrupted my amazing dream where I owned a million ponies!"

"What the fuck?" Link asked, staring at Malon.

"That's not important!" Zelda said. "Cops are at the door. No doubt that they're looking for us!"

"Oh, Din. What do we do?" Komali asked.

"Uhh... Barricade the door!" Zelda ordered.

"Barricade it? That's the only way out! We're just going to be trapped in here, and we'll be sitting ducks when the cops inevitably break it down!" Link argued. Zelda stared at the window.

"It's not the only way."

Everyone else nodded as they understood. After a few more urgent knocks, Zelda finally heard the faint sounds of the two parents groggily standing up and walking to the door.

"We don't have much time." Zelda said. "Use the bed first. Barricade it with the bed."

Link and Malon grabbed both sides of the first bed, and then pushed it up against the side of the door. Zelda and Komali lifted the second bed on top of the first.

Zelda continued eavesdropping on the conversation between their hosts and the police.

"Are you aware of the bus incident earlier yesterday morning? Caused by the terrorists who were last seen in Hateno?"

"Y-yes, what does that have to do with anything?"

"We have reports of a group that matches the latest description of these terrorists entering this household. Would you let us inside to come see?"

"No!"

"Please, keep in mind, if you do not fork over these criminals or at the very least let us inside to investigate, we will have to arrest and execute you under obstruction of justice and harboring of criminals."

"Very well."

Zelda huffed and turned to her comrades. "Escape out the window! They're coming!"

Link unlocked the latch on the window, and opened it. He crawled out, followed by Malon and Komali.

Zelda turned back to the door. The handle turned and began to open, but was stopped by the bed.

"Is there a way to unlock this door?" the cop asked.

"The door doesn't have a lock!" Sorelia cried. Zelda took this chance and escaped out the window out back to find herself underneath the midnight moon with her friends.

"What now?" Link asked.

"Go over the fence to the house behind this one." Zelda instructed. She looked at the high fence to see the other property on the other side of the city block. Once again, she didn't like to intrude, but it was a life or death choice here.

Komali boosted everyone up to get over the fence onto the other property, then flew over it himself. They opened the unlocked back door and ran straight through the house, opening the front door to enter the deserted street.

"How many officers did you see?" Malon asked.

"I saw three, but there are probably more swarming around here. We should start running as far from the house as possible."

Zelda directed everyone to run to the left.

"Where are we going?" Link asked.

"Away from the house!" Zelda urged. They stopped as they encountered a river that bisected their route of escape.

"What now?" Malon urgently asked. Zelda was speechless as she saw headlights of a police car coming their way in each of the three directions.

"I-I don't know! We're trapped!"

Each car came in closer until they were around a yard away from them in either direction. Two cops came out of each car, pointing their pistols at them.

"You're lucky you got away from those Moblins on that bus." a cop said. "But, it looks like your luck's run out."

"Move a muscle, and we'll shoot you right here. But, if you're willing to accept your death, you can come with us and Ghirahim can execute you painlessly."

Zelda put her hands in the air. Maybe... their best option was to come with them and make their escapes out of the cars? They would predict that.

She racked her brain. She really was at a loss. Was this it for them?

Trying to come up with an idea, she almost jolted when she felt a drip of water on her shoulder. Was it going to rain?

She looked upwards, as did the rest of her group.

"What? What are you looking at! Put your eyes on us!" the cop said. His partner tapped him on the shoulder and pointed up.

Everyone was speechless at the appearance of a massive water bubble floating right on top of them. Each cop dropped their gun and backed up, but it was enough time for the water to drop. It collided with the pavement, flooding the street and knocking each policeman to the ground while smashing their cars against buildings and lampposts.

Zelda and the others were almost surrounded by a watertight seal, as a dome of air surrounded them. When the water subsided, there was a ring of dryness around them while the rest of the street was soaking wet.

"What the hell?" she asked.

"OVER HERE!" a voice screamed. Zelda turned around to see a Zora on a boat. "Get on!"

* * *

 **I'd like to ask a question to my readers. Would you prefer to see longer chapters, maybe around 7k+ words per chapter, but more infrequent uploads, or to stick with the once-a-week schedule and continue with the shorter 3k words chapters? I've put up a poll on my profile. Regardless, thank you for reading! Please review!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Tell me if you prefer this chapter size to the usual size. If the majority of you do, I'll keep it.**

* * *

 **Arc 2: On the Run**

 **Chapter 21: Moonlight** **Outmaneuver**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

The Zora captained the small deck boat so it would get as close to their side of the river as possible before colliding with it. Link wasted no time hopping the railing separating the sidewalk and the river, and slowly dropped down into the boat. The others quickly followed.

"They're going to recover soon!" Komali urged.

"Not a problem." the Zora said. She turned the steering wheel as the boat began moving, coursing towards the center of the river.

If they weren't going to die, Link would've probably loved this view. Going through the empty river of an empty town with millions of lights and bridges surrounding them. It was phenomenal. But a sudden gunshot told Link that was probably not what he should be worrying about.

Looking upon the shore, there was a police car driving along with them, shooting at them while in motion. Zelda put her hands up in the air to form a blue dome to block the ship from any attacks.

"Thanks, kid." the Zora thanked.

"You're welcome," Zelda replied. She continued to project the shield.

"Who are you?" Link asked.

"Who, me?" she replied.

"Yeah, you."

"My name's Ruto. I'm also a member of the Resistance. Don't introduce yourselves; Saria filled me in."

"What ca-"

"Let's save personal information when we're out of death's way, okay?" she asked, sighing. Link nodded, understanding the situation. Zelda took down the shield and fired a ball of light straight at the car. It soared towards it, and rebounded off its side mirror to hit the driver, causing him to spin into the river.

"Nice shot!" Link said, hi-fiving Zelda who weakly complied.

"We've got more company!" Ruto interrupted. Two more police cars came in, one on both sides.

"You two deal with them!" Link demanded, pointing at Malon and Komali. "Zelda's exhausted!"

Malon and Komali rushed to opposite sides of the boat. Komali outstretched his arm and ejected a few volts of electricity from his fingertips. From what it looked like, his intention was to pop the tires or incapacitate the driver.

The car went up in a fiery explosion.

"Must've hit the gas tank!" he cringed. "Never mind. Don't worry about them, they're trying to kill us!"

Malon whipped off her glove and formed a fireball in her hand. She aimed straight for the second car on the opposite side of the river... and completely missed as the fireball underwent gravity and plopped into river.

"Really?" she complained.

"Move." Komali ordered, semi-pushing Malon out of the way. He shot the second car with a bolt of electricity, and successfully popped the tires without exploding it and killing everyone. "Oh, thank Farore."

"Is that everyone?" Link asked. The two policemen in the second car got out and began running after them, pistols in hand. As they began to shoot at the boat, Link grabbed everyone's heads (except for Ruto) and yanked them to get behind the seats. Several bullets lodged themselves in the side of the boat with an audible *CLANG*

"On second thought, maybe you should have killed them, Komali." Malon said.

Komali gave her a look of disapproval, but ultimately ignored her. "Ruto," he sighed. "Are bullet holes going to make this boat sink?"

"This metal is tough enough to handle a few bullets. We'll be fine as long as they're not lucky enough to get two bullets in the exact same spot. Besides, with my power, that won't even be an issue. I could just expel the water, though we'd probably have to dock shortly after."

Komali's eyes darted towards the speedboat engine. "What if they shoot the engine? It'll explode!"

"Don't worry about that! Just focus on the people trying to kill us, please."

Geez. She's sassy.

"Komali and Zelda, you're the only ones capable of dealing with them at this distance!" Link urged.

Zelda stood up, summoning the light bow. "Fine." She pulled back the drawstring, and fired the pure light arrow towards the policemen, both lodging in their legs, causing them to collapse onto the floor as the boat cruised away.

Zelda collapsed on her knees. "Ugh. I feel like I just ran a marathon in snow gear." She fell asleep right then and there.

"Yeah, I'm beat." Komali agreed, falling backwards onto one of the seats on the boat, falling asleep. Malon and Link, who barely did any work, just sat down to catch their breath.

"I guess it's advantageous to be useless sometimes." Malon laughed. Link tried to go along with the joke, but his laughter was obviously forced. Though Malon didn't seem to catch on, a glance from Ruto seemed to tell him that she knew his true feelings.

* * *

After the shock died down, everyone was simply waiting for whatever was going to happen next. It was the middle of the night, and nothing interesting had really happened since the encounter. Since then, they had left the semi-large town of Tarrey and had continued boating upstream.

The sun had not yet risen, but Komali had woken up and was alert.

"That was a good rest." he said, stretching his wings. He grabbed a bottle of water and drank around a quarter of it.

"Komali, would you mind if I had a sip of that water?" Malon asked.

"Sure." he replied, tossing the bottle to her. "Just don't put your mouth o-"

Malon put the bottle to her lips and began drinking. Then, she pushed the bottle more into her mouth until it was halfway down her throat.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Komali asked.

"What?" Malon innocently asked. She handed the bottle back to Komali.

"No, no, keep it. Keep it, please."

"It's your water."

"Germs. I have a big thing about germs."

"Are you saying my mouth isn't clean?"

"It's covered in your spit!"

"So?"

Link watched with a happy smile on his face. He was desperate for some kind of entertainment on this boring ride.

* * *

"Just take it. Take it. I'm not thirsty anymore."

"Fine."

Komali put his hands on his head and sighed in relief while Malon finished up the last of the bottle. Link had watched them go at it for a whole half hour. And somehow during that nonsense, Zelda hadn't woken up.

"So, Ruto, where are we heading?" Link asked.

"We're heading upstream to Lake Hylia. But we're not going _into_ Lake Hylia. We're going to dock right outside it."

"What? Why?" Link inquired. He was genuinely curious.

"Lake Hylia is on the border of three countries. Hyrule, Termina, and Labrynna. Though the lake is extremely big, I mean, Koholint Island could fit in there and still have lake to spare, there's invisible borders in the center of the lake. As such, each of these countries have to inspect each boat and flag it with either yellow, red, or blue depending on which country they're from. If a boat lands on a shore that's not for their country, they'll get torpedo'ed. But, we're more worried about inspection. They'll definitely catch us."

"What's our plan of attack?" Malon asked. "By the way, you are going to take us all the way to Labrynna, right? Saria said she had to stay in Hateno no matter what."

"Yes, I'm going to take you back to Labrynna. This is my last mission as a scout, and I should get back to home base and report to Impa. We're just going to cruise down the Lomei river for a few days, then get off and walk northeast to the Terminan border."

"Few days?" Zelda asked, shocked.

"When did you wake up?" Link asked, recoiling in the boat's seat.

"Just now."

"It should be around five days at the latest."

"Why so long?" Malon complained.

"There's a few factors..." she trailed. "The river winds a lot, we have to dock to sleep, no doubt that someone will have to use the bathroom and we'll have to stop, we're going upstream, and we'll have to find somewhere to stop and refuel, there's the chance we could run out of food"

"Why didn't we just walk?" Malon asked.

"Fine. Get out and walk the six hundred miles to the border. Then we'll see who's faster."

"Saria was so much nicer than you..." Malon said.

Ruto sighed. "I get that a lot. But, there's no doubt that I'll be able to help you. You seem a little novice in usage of your powers. You need to get creative. You get a lot of loopholes and alternative methods when you have an elemental power like that. We'll pull over in a couple of hours so we could train a bit."

"Got it." Link said, with a thumbs' up. "But, Ruto, I'm curious about you. How long have you been a scout?"

"Around a year."

"Which means, you've been with the Resistance for a year?"

"That's right."

"But, what was there to resist a year ago?"

"Ganondorf, doy!"

"But Ganondorf only rose to power around a month and a half ago. With the Civil War, right?"

Ruto was silent. There was no backstabby or snarky response from her mouth, just silence. There was something she wasn't telling.

"Ruto, do you know something?" Zelda asked.

"N-No. I'm fine." she replied.

Link leaned into Zelda. "She definitely knows something".

"She might be forgetting something, or might doubt her own statement?"

"That doesn't make any sense! How would you doubt a statement like that?"

"That is a good point. It doesn't sound like anything you would mistakenly get wrong."

Ruto turned to them, only around three feet away. "You know I can hear you, right?"

"Do Auras have super hearing?" Link whispered. Zelda facepalmed.

* * *

 ** _~Malon~_**

Now, the sun had risen and was high in the sky. Ruto steered the ship to the right and dropped the anchor into the water.

"What's this?" Komali asked. "There's nothing here."

"Exactly," Ruto replied. "That's why we're going to use it to train and control your powers. Especially Malon. You have a lot of problems from what I've heard."

"What?" Malon recoiled. "There's something wrong with me?"

"Not with you, but with your hands. You can't turn the heat off, correct?"

"That's right..."

"We'll start with you. Everybody out."

Everyone made their way out of the boat. Link, Zelda, and Komali walked backwards and sat down on a fallen log, while Malon stayed standing with Ruto in front of her.

"Take off your gloves." she said. Malon complied and took each glove off, revealing her glowing, red-hot hands. "Catch." Ruto said, tossing her a piece of wood. Malon caught it as it instantly ignited in flames and turned to ash.

"Annoying, isn't it?" Ruto asked.

"You have no idea. Those gloves are so irritating."

Ruto directed her hands towards the river, pulling two orbs of water out of it. She used her hands to guide it towards Malon, and surrounded each hand in one of the orbs. Instead of the heat going out, each orb got slightly smaller until all the water evaporated.

"That's not a bad power if I say so myself..." she said. "If I can't externally extinguish that heat, you're going to have to do it. No Aura power will permanently affect your body in the way that yours is."

"What do I do then?" Malon asked.

"Whenever you use your power, think of a real-world equivalent of that action. If you want to extinguish your hands, think of a light switch or a gas burner, and think of yourself manually turning that dial off."

"Alright." Malon closed her eyes and scrunched her face. Link watched closely as the glow in her hands began to fade. It was still there, just less intense.

"Just continue turning that dial." she encouraged. Malon began sweating as her hands dimmed, eventually fading away to nothing.

"You see?" Ruto asked with a genuine smile.

Malon looked at her hands in amazement. "You did it!" Malon screamed.

"No, _you_ did it. Here, catch!"

Ruto tossed Malon a block of wood, but she wasn't paying attention and it bonked her on the head, causing her to collapse to the ground.

* * *

"Here, catch!" Ruto said, tossing Malon a block of wood. She caught it, and it didn't ignite or go into flames.

"Now that you know how to turn it off, why don't you try turning it back on?" Ruto asked. "Same procedure."

Malon closed her eyes as her hands slowly began to glow, becoming incandescent.

"Good job!" Ruto shouted. But Malon didn't stop. Her hands continued to glow from red to white, as the others, ten feet away, showed their discomfort.

"MALON! THAT'S ENOUGH! TURN IT DOWN!" Ruto shouted. Malon toned her hands back down to normal.

"For Din's sake, how hot was that?" Ruto asked. Malon shrugged.

Komali, however, seemed to know. "It was at least two thousand degrees. Possibly even more. You could definitely rip through copper and aluminum. Possibly steel if you toned it up more."

"Yeah... what he said." Ruto said. "Ahem, let's move on. Fireballs."

Ruto pulled three blobs of water out of the river, placed them around ten feet, twenty feet, and thirty feet, and shaped them like policemen. "Hit each one of them with a fireball."

"Are you sure? We're in a forest..."

"I'll extinguish the flames if they get out of hand. Don't worry about them."

Ruto constructed a wall of water right between the water targets and the trees. "Just go."

Malon cupped her hands and tossed a few fireballs at these water policemen. She hit the first one, but the second and third ones bounced a bit around the targets and dissipated as they struck the water wall.

"You see... you need to work on your aim and accuracy. The fireballs can bounce around and become too dangerous and unpredictable if they don't hit your target, and it could possibly stray and hit one of your teammates. Do you know how to make them dissipate?"

"I never tried..." Malon said. "I just kind of threw the fireballs and see wherever it lands."

"That's a terrible strategy. Let's work on dissipation first. Fire isn't quite matter, so you can make it completely vanish into thin air."

Ruto dragged a few fallen logs and placed them in a pile in front of the water wall. "It's large enough for you to hit it. Just toss the fireball at the logs and make it dissipate before it catches on fire."

"Alright." Malon created a fireball and tossed it at the pile of logs. It caught on fire as Ruto put it out. "That's alright. That's alright. Just try again. Remember to think of an everyday practice that represents the action you're taking."

 _Alright. I can do this._ Malon thought. She formed a ball of fire and tossed it straight at the pile of timber. Just before it hit the wood, she imagined herself blowing out a candle, and projected that thought towards the real world. In real time, the fire got extinguished before it touched the pile of wood.

"Very good." Ruto said. "Again."

Malon repeated this around ten times, with seven of them successfully dissipating the fireball.

"You're doing well for a novice." Ruto congratulated. "Let's move back into aim. There's no point using fireballs if you can't hit anything."

Malon nodded.

"Just think of this as a baseball game. It's just like that. The more practice you get, the better you'll be. It's nothing extraordinary. Just toss the balls and hit each of the targets in a row. If you miss, start over."

After a few times trying, it was just like Ruto said. She wasn't doing anything extreme with her powers. She was just doing target practice. It really wasn't too interesting, but it was definitely helpful to know how to aim properly. After around forty five minutes of target practice and moving targets and whatnot, Ruto decided it was time to move on.

"Flamethrower. Let's work on that now. Just initiate the flamethrower and try to see how far you can stretch it."

She outstretched her hand and released a torrent of fiery flames.

"Hmm... Fifteen feet. Impressive." Ruto said. "Just keep it there. Go for as long as you can. Try not to let up."

She blasted the fire for as long as she could until her arms began to shake. She began sweating as her entire body seemed to be giving out like a fish out of water. She kept going, keeping herself sustained... until the fire ran out. A few more spurts came out of her hands until the entire thing died down after around two minutes and she collapsed onto the floor.

"Is she dead?" Link asked.

"She should be fine. Just help her up and let her rest with you. I'll train another one of you."

Link and Zelda slung her arms over their shoulders and carried her to the log. Walking even with the assistance was very difficult for her. Everything felt like putty.

"Which one of you should I train next... hmm... You there! Sparky!" Ruto pointed at Komali, but that was the last thing she saw before her eyelids drooped, beckoning sleep.

* * *

 ** _~Komali~_**

"What can you do?" Ruto asked.

"Well... I can do illusions and shoot lightning out of my fingers, but that's essentially the extent that I've experimented with so far."

"Let's focus on the lightning part. Show me."

Komali directed his attention towards a stump that wasn't surrounded by any other trees. He outstretched his fingers and released a steady stream of electricity towards it, frying it from the inside out. When he stopped, it lit on fire.

"Nice job." Ruto said. "Try to see what else you can do. Maybe you can shock people by simply touching them? Try it on Link."

"What? Me?" Link asked. "No! Have him try it on you!"

"Zora + electricity = major injury."

Link sighed. Komali walked up to him and touched his fingertip towards Link's arm, then felt a jump of charge.

"Ow!" Link complained.

"Come on. There's no way that hurt."

"It's like, you know when you slide down a playground slide, and you build up static electricity and shock someone? it's like that."

"Did it hurt though?"

"Not really."

Ruto sighed. "Were you restraining yourself?"

"Yeah. Of course I didn't want it to hurt."

"Okay, okay, try electrically charging your hands. Like how Malon did with heat earlier."

Komali had zero problem surrounding his hands in a field of sparking, charged electricity. It was less visible than Malon's, but it was clearly there.

"Great. Now zap Link."

"What? Really?" Link asked, slowly backing away. "Why me?"

"He can't zap me." Ruto said, chuckling. "He could kill me."

"Uhh... he could kill me too!" Link justified. "Humans aren't made out of rubber!"

"Eh, that might be true. Stand down."

Komali got back into position as Ruto tried to get serious again. "Now, try throwing out some punches with those electrified hands of yours."

He jabbed a few times with his left hand and did a couple of uppercuts, as it left a short-lasting tail of floating electricity.

"This is cool!" he said.

"Okay, can you funnel your powers into the rest of your body, or is it restricted to your arms?"

Komali responded by channeling his energy into his entire body, causing it to be covered in sparks and charges.

"Try a couple of kicks and knees."

He kicked the air a couple of times with similar effects to the punches.

"Alright, alright. You've got a lot to work with already, and every power is different. I'm just going to throw a few suggestions out there, so don't worry if you can or can't do some of them. Shock wave?"

He balled up his body and got on the ground, willing his power to disperse everywhere in the air.

"Shit. Everyone get back!" Ruto shouted, running away from him. Zelda and Link did the same, carrying an unconscious Malon.

He felt the electric discharge come out of his whole body, causing a sphere to come out of his body on all angles. The sphere continued to grow bigger until it electrocuted everything within a twenty feet radius before dissipating. Ruto came slowly walking back towards him.

"Damn." she said. "Are you okay? That seemed like a little much."

Komali struggled to stand up. "I need a nap."

Link arrived to take him under his arm and walk him back to the tree log.

* * *

 ** _~Zelda~_**

"I think it's about time we get some lunch," Ruto said, stretching out her arms. They had waited until Komali and Malon had recovered, but they hadn't really done anything except lounge around and rest.

"Why don't you two try to see how practical your new skills are?" Ruto asked, pointed at Malon and Komali. "Try to catch and cook some fish."

"I don't really eat fish..." Malon complained.

"Just do it!" Ruto encouraged.

"Fine! Komali, you catch it, I cook it."

"Got it."

Komali shot a bolt of electricity into the water, causing a few dead bass to pop up.

"Link, can I borrow your sword?" Komali asked. Link nodded and tossed it to him. He used the sword to stab the fish and pull them towards him, then used it to scale the fish. He passed it off to Malon, who held it with one hand and lit the other one on fire. After rotating the fish a few times, it was fully cooked and ready to eat. Ruto got a few plates out of the back of the boat and began to slice up the fish and plate it. They all sat down inside the boat and began conversing.

"I'm so sore," Malon complained.

"Me too," Komali said, struggling to lift the fork to his mouth.

"Needs more salt," Link complained. "It's bland."

"Shut up!" Ruto shouted. "I don't carry around holsters of salt and lemons! Just shut up and eat it, or don't eat it at all!"

She collapsed backwards on the boat's seat. "Sheesh."

"Ruto, why don't you tell us your story?" Zelda suggested.

"My- my story?"

"Yeah. How you got recruited to the Resistance, what happened, stuff like that."

Ruto put her fork and plate down. "This is going to be a long one. So, basically, I actually lived in Talus in Labrynna from the very start. I know you know that Labrynna is the safest country here for people like us, but that doesn't mean it's 100% peace and safety. Around two years ago, my parents were mysteriously slaughtered. Two calling cards were found there, with an inverted Sheikah symbol. The police arrived on the scene, but they weren't able to identify the culprits. However, they could identify one thing. The symbol. It was the symbol of the Yiga Clan."

"What exactly is the Yiga Clan?" Zelda asked. "Saria said they have a large presence in Labrynna, and they sound like people we should definitely know about."

Ruto sighed. "Later, I learned that they're an organization devoted to enforcing Ganon's rule outside of Hyrule. But they go to extremes, actions that I'm not even sure that Ganon would personally do. Of course, he's not going to stop them or tell them off."

"So what specific things do they do?" she asked.

"Well... they normlly pick off people who they see as a threat towards Hyrule and Ganon's rule. Those include resistance members, people of high political power, corporations, the military, and anyone in specific who Ganon himself sees as a threat."

"So," Malon started. "If we do join the resistance, we're going to be targeted by the Yiga?"

"Ganon's already deemed you a threat. You're not safe from them regardless. But, if you join the resistance, you'll have more people to help shield you. Though now, the resistance is kind of kaput after we lost over forty eight out of fifty of our members in a failed attack on Hyrule."

"What do you mean kaput?" Link asked. "If the resistance is broken down and non-functional, then why are we even joining in the first place?"

"After we lost most of our members, it's just scouts, two Auras, and Impa. But, that doesn't mean we're not trying to get more people. It's just kind of hard to find people who are Auras, and are willing to leave their friends and families."

"But back to the Yiga clan. Something that you should know is that they have quite a few Aura assassins. Yes, they recruit Auras too."

Komali's head sunk. "So... you mean... if we get to Labrynna, we'll have to face off against other Auras?"

"Most likely. That's part of the reason we're having you train."

"But what about me?" Link asked. "I'm not an Aura. What will I do against other auras?"

"That's why you have that sword of yours, right? You can still train, right?" Ruto asked. "Besides, once you meet Impa, she can give you some Sheikah technology to give you an upper hand."

"Uhh... Ruto?" Zelda asked. "Is Link really powerless? How would you truly know that?"

"Saria probably said this already, but we have a mole in the Aura Complex who's working to get them out as we speak. Though, they increased security after you guys escaped. We just learned from whatever they wrote down in their files. If you want a second check up by Impa, she can scan you again to test if they miswrote something or if they miscalculated something. But for now, you're almost certainly not an Aura."

Link cleared his throat. "Why don't we get back to your story?"

"Oh, right." Ruto replied. "I never learned why my parents were targeted by the Yiga. And, chances are, I never will. After my parents died, I lived homeless out on the street for a while. I didn't want the police couldn't to catch me and put me in an orphanage. I didn't want a new family. I wanted my old one back. There, in an alleyway in Talus, a man tried to kill me. I'm not sure if it was another member of the Yiga, or if it was just a drunken criminal rapist murderer, but that's when my powers awoke. Water pipes exploded outwards and created water chains around him with a bubble around his head. That was enough time for me to get away, but from then on, I was able to use my new powers. A scout found me eventually and recruited me. After a few months of training, I elected to become a scout so we could get more people. I recruited a few people, but they were all lost in the attack on Hyrule Castle."

"That's... really dark." Zelda said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry. I'm mostly over it now. I've told my stories, why don't you tell us yours?"

"Individually, or as a group?" Zelda asked.

"As a group. Whatever happened prior to the Aura Complex is kind of the same for all of you, no? You were part of a major incident and were kidnapped, thrown into a truck, and put into- i mean taken to the Aura Complex, right?"

"That's right," Link, Malon, and Komali said consecutively.

"What about you?" Ruto asked. "Did it happen differently for you?"

"N-no. I jus-"

"She's an amnesiac." Malon said. "She can't remember anything before waking up in the Aura Complex."

"Oh," Ruto replied. "I see."

"Basically, Malon was our saving grace when we left the Complex. Her power-neutralizing bracelet broke without Vaati noticing, which allowed her to use her powers to lead the escape. Eventually, we had all of our bracelets broken off and we used our powers to leave the Complex. Then, Groose followed us outside. He tried to kill us, but we kind of left him hanging in the snow. We don't know where he is now and frankly, we don't really care." Link explained. "From there, we walked to Hateno, almost died there several times because cops were shooting at us and exploding the trains we were on, changed our appearances, got on a bus to Tarrey, the bus got destroyed by monsters, we killed them, walked to Tarrey, housed with these people, cops found us, ran, and we found you."

"Did you just summarize the entire journey this far with one paragraph?" Malon asked. "I guess that's the gist of it..."

"That's great. Let's just get back to training, shall we?" Ruto said.

* * *

"You can do the shields, but what's your second power?" She asked. "The Aura Complex file listed your primary power as 'unknown'."

"From the looks and properties of it, I can control light." Zelda replied. "I mean, it goes straight through windows without shattering them and I think it rebounded off a mirror once."

"Let's work on your shields first." Ruto said. Do me simple. Project a shield.

"Alright. That's not that hard." Zelda replied. She put her hands up as a bluish-clear shield appeared in front of her. Ruto got a hammer out of the ship and walked up to the shield. She swung it and whacked the shield multiple times.

"What are the properties of it?" Ruto asked.

"They decrease my energy with each impact!" She strained to say.

Ruto continued swinging the hammer. "Try to keep the shield up as long as possible."

Zelda endured for a few more swings until she felt her arms and energy giving out. The shield ended and she collapsed to her knees, panting.

"Do you have enough energy to work on your light power, or do you want a rest?"

"I think I have enough... huff.. energy." she replied. She was exhausted, but she wasn't tired.

"Alright. Show me what you can do."

Zelda formed the light bow and aimed it towards a tree behind Ruto. She aimed, pulled back the drawstring, and fired it, lodging an arrow in the tree.

"You did something similar with a ball earlier, right?" Ruto asked. "Do that again. But on me."

"Are you sure?" Zelda asked. "I don't know how much it hurts."

"Just do it. It'll be fine."

Zelda formed a ball of light and aimed it straight at Ruto's stomach. She tossed it as the light hit her, causing her to recoil backwards onto the ground.

"Oh, are you okay?" she concerning asked, running up to her.

"I'm fine, i'm fine, it's a little more powerful than I anticipated."

Ruto pushed herself up. "Alright. Target practice."

She snapped as a few water targets popped up from the river. "Hit these."

Zelda nodded and aimed her throw towards the closest one. She aimed, and threw it. Her aim was completely on point. It went directly into the water target's chest.

But she forgot that water diffuses light in strange ways. The majority of the ball came out the back of it, but a few slightly dimmer balls came out of the target at all angles. Some came back and smacked Ruto, Link, and Malon. Komali was smart enough to fly upwards.

"Ow!" Malon shouted.

"Really?" Link asked.

"Didn't hurt as much as last time," Ruto said.

Komali flapped down to the ground.

"So, looks like you've got aim down... I don't know much about this power. I don't know how to train it. Just try to see what else you can make out of that light of yours."

She concentrated on a sword. She channeled her energy to her hands, just like always, but imagined a sword instead of a bow or a sphere. Her hands began to feel a solid object to wrap her hands around. Looking down, she saw a sword bright enough that you couldn't make out any distinct features or stare at it too long. It was skinny, like a rapier.

"Now, Zelda, why don't you duel Link?" Ruto suggested.

Oh, boy.

* * *

 **For the reviewer who asked about Midna, I just wanted to say that she will be relevant in arc 4. Maybe Arc 3 if I manage to squeeze her in there somewhere, as her story doesn't really fit with the theme for Arc 3, but she will be back by Arc 4 guaranteed.**

 **And I only plan to add three more main Aura characters in addition to the ones you've met, all of them in Arc 3.**

 **I'm really excited for Arc 3 because that's where I'll have most of the ideas for little fun things they can do.**

 **I just felt like uploading this chapter today. There may or may not be a chapter this weekend.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Arc 2: On the Run**

 **Chapter 22: Aqua Raid**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

Link stood around three yards away with Zelda, sword in his hand. Conversely, Zelda stood around three yards away with her light, weightless sword in her hand.

"Are you sure?" Link asked. "I mean, we'll probably kill each other."

"You should be fine."

"Then, how do we tell who wins or loses if no one dies?"

Ruto griped and went down to the boat, and returned with two metal chest plates. "There. You have armor. Now fight!"

Link and Zelda slipped the chest plates on. "They're heavy," Zelda complained.

"Too bad. Just try to make contact with the other person's chestplate. Now start!"

Link thrust the sword at Zelda's stomach, but she knocked it away with a low swing to her left. Link tried to counterattack by swinging to the right, but Zelda blocked it once again by swinging to the left. Trying an upwards strike, she parried it with a slight-angled downwards swing. Though Link was taking the offensive, Zelda didn't seem to be making any offensive moves at all. That changed in a second. Zelda advanced towards him and slashed down-left, to which Link responded by reflecting it down-right. Link saw an opening in her defenses as he thrust the sword towards her chest and tapped the piece of armor.

"Link wins!" Ruto said.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Link shouted. Zelda clapped.

* * *

After a few more duels and arms and shoulders getting slashed up, both Link and Zelda were sitting down, sipping on bottles of water.

"Ruto, do you have any bandages? I'm bleeding everywhere."

"How about something better?" Ruto asked. She turned around and handed Link and Zelda a small-sized bottle of a red liquid.

"Really? Juice?" Link asked. "That's wayyy better than bandages for slice wounds."

"Just drink it!" Ruto replied, irritated. Link sighed, gave in, and ingested a sip of the liquid. The taste wasn't what he expected, however. He almost choked on it, as he was expecting a fruity juice drink, but the sourest, putrid, and bitter taste sent shivers down his spine. What was in there? About to chew out Ruto for pranking him, his disgust turned to amazement as he could then instantly feel his arm wounds close up and heal over. Looking back, there was very little trace of any scars.

"Woah!" Zelda shouted. "How?"

"These are red potions. They heal you." Ruto replied.

"Red potions?" Komali asked. "Instant healing? That's not how science works."

"Scientifically, no. But, this was made with the power of magic."

Link snorted and chuckled. Magic? Well... the healing that just happened was not natural, but saying it was 'magic' was a bit of a stretch.

"Elaborate, please," Zelda commanded.

"Alright, but take a sip first. A sip's all you need. This bottle is the only one I was given."

Zelda grabbed the bottle and put the rim up to her lips, downing a sip of the liquid. She instantly coughed and reeled backward as her wounds began to sew back together.

"I take it you don't know anything about magic," Ruto said, crouching on a log. "I mean, the practice has been lost for thousands of years."

Malon brought a finger to her chin. "We weren't taught that in school..."

Ruto chuckled. "I didn't know anything about magic until I was accepted into the resistance. Thousands of years ago, sizable amounts of people were able to use magic at a whim, naturally, similar to how us Auras can use our powers now. But, as the technology became more prominent, magic became less and less necessary, and people eventually stopped using it. Over time, with people using magic less and less, it's been forgotten and we've lost the capability to use it though it still exists in our environment. Though now, Impa and her sister Purah have managed to find a way to tap into magic sources with their advanced Sheikah technology and harvest it to make stuff like these potions. As of now, they're currently working on ways to combine magic and technology, but they're having difficulties as they... err... don't really agree with each other."

"Wait, so if magic can make something like this," Link began, holding up the potion. "Then why can't they just sell it to hospitals and help a bunch of people? Why keep it to themselves?"

"Many reasons," Ruto explained. "First off, this one potion, there were only around two cups of it in here when it was given to me. The magic needed to make that single bottle took several months to harvest. Secondly, it's insanely hard to take the magic, and transform it into the potion. You need to funnel the magic and combine it with a correct combination of ingredients at an exact temperature. I'm not truly sure what those are, but though Impa has successfully made potions, she still messes up most of the time. Thirdly, a potion's not a cure-all. The potion itself doesn't heal you, it accelerates your natural ability to heal. So, if you're already too exhausted or too injured, it won't have enough energy to safely sap from you and it could cause you to faint or die if it's too serious. Plus, it doesn't help against diseases, poison, or brain damage. Impa acknowledges that this could be a medical breakthrough, but she's keeping it to herself for now. It's quite dangerous if it were to get found out by Ganondorf, the Yiga, or some black market thug."

"What else can magic do?" Zelda asked.

"I dunno. I'm not an expert; this is the only thing I know about magic, though I know Impa's currently trying to imbue magic into objects. I wonder how that's going."

She outstretched her arms. "I'm exhausted. Why don't we take a nice sleep here for now and then we set sail at nightfall?"

Everyone had retreated to the boat and found a nice, comfortable spot to lie down in. Luckily, this particular boat had seats long enough to lie down in and serve as a bed. Unfortunately, they had no blanket, but that was hardly an issue. Due to the combination of training, not sleeping earlier, and the potion, Link was exhausted enough for sleep to come easily.

* * *

Link opened his eyes to find himself sitting inside what looked like a moving van. The back of the van was painted mostly black, with several chairs running down either side of it.

And in front of him, the one person he needed to look out for. The flamboyant chief himself. Ghirahim.

"You!" Link shouted. He wasn't chained up this time. He stood up and walked towards Ghirahim, and swung a punch at him. To his dismay, his hand phased right through Ghirahim's head.

"You're an idiot if I have to explain this again," Ghirahim replied. Link looked at the window and saw that his reflection, this time, matched his current look.

"My power works depending on my image of you. I now know what you look like, so you appear that way when I call you."

Link gripped his head. "Why did you bring me here? I've learned enough since last time that I'm going to be extra cautious and not give out any information at all."

"I figured. You may have escaped Tarrey before I could arrive at the scene and kill you personally, but we have consensus on your general direction, as well as that Zora you're with."

Link didn't give in. He's learned that anything Ghirahim pushes him to say could be used to sniff out his location. From now on, he'll stay silent.

"Y'know, I'll be willing to strike a deal with you. If you surrender and come to the police station with hands in the air, we'll execute your friends peacefully. Lethal injection. They won't feel a thing. As for you, I'll spare you. I'll let you go. You're no threat in any shape or form."

He looked away at his feet. He didn't want to give Ghirahim any ideas.

"But if you refuse my offer and I have to track you down, I will personally make sure that you and your friends' deaths are long and painful."

Link sighed and put his fingertips to his lips, 'zipping' them shut.

"You know, we got rid of all your legal documents. Even if you got home, even if we weren't chasing you, according to our files, you never existed. You'd lose all rights as a living human. No school, no driver's license, no possibility to work. Your life is gone. Vanished into thin air."

"Why are you telling me this?" Link asked. "Why are you telling me that my more advantageous option, the one that you want me to pick, will be worse than you described? Though, I am glad I know, but how does this benefit you in any way?"

"Ganon told me to give you that choice. But I cannot shake the feeling... the lust... for brutally skewering you and your friends. For mutilating your bodies until they're unrecognizable! To truly wipe you off the face of the planet in the most grotesque way possible!"

Link tried to scoot as far away from him as he could, but the van was rather confined.

"What's wrong with you?" Link asked. "What did we do to you that warrants... that?"

"I need to take more souls... so mine can thrive on top. I will fulfill Lord Ganondorf's wishes to the fullest! By exceeding his expectations! By crushing you under my very fingertips! I will take the risk of you escaping the country if I personally have the chance to give you the spiked hammer!"

This guy isn't just a soldier carrying out Ganon's orders. He was batshit insane.

"I have a deadline in around a week and a half. Not once have I ever failed Lord Ganondorf's orders. I will catch you one way or another. And if you fight me, you will lose. If you and your four friends fight me, you will all lose. If you try to evade me, I will find you. Keep that in mind. I want a full fight out of you so I can be a true winner. I already know which choice you've made. Goodbye."

Link felt a jolt of force backwards as he awoke back in his real body, in a cold sweat.

* * *

 **Four Days Later**

Nothing really interesting happened between that one training day and the current day. All that really happened was smooth sailing along the river, with breaks for eating, sleeping, and training.

"We're halfway there, guys!" Ruto said.

"You said it'll be five days!" Malon complained.

"Five days if we go nonstop. But if you couldn't tell, we're pulling over a lot."

"I'M SO BORED!"

"There should be a Nintendo something in the back."

"I have questions." Komali began, while Malon reached into the storage compartment to rustle around the bags and gear. "First off… why did you bring that?"

"I get bored a lot." Ruto said.

"Second off… why didn't you tell us sooner!"

"I forgot."

"Ruto," Malon said, tears almost forming in her eyes. "It's out of battery."

"Ask Mister Sparky Bird over there to charge it for you."

Komali sighed and inserted his fingernail into the Gameboy's charging port.

The boat was silent enough for Link to hear an external splash from somewhere behind the boat, but he couldn't see anything. "Guys, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Malon said, watching Komali pump the energy into the video game console.

"I didn't hear anything." Ruto replied. Zelda simply shrugged. "If it's just a splash don't worry about it. There's jumping fish in this area."

He shrugged it off. It was probably just his paranoia. He turned his back and focused on the gameboy, the most interesting thing currently on the boat, when he felt a spray of water so strong it hurt for the next fifteen seconds.

"Ruto!" Link scolded. "Stop!"

"Stop what? The ship? Why?"

"No, stop spraying me!"

"I'm not spraying you."

He turned back to the river as he gestured for his companions to look as well.

A small horn popped up out of the water.

"...Ruto?" Zelda asked concerningly. "What is that?"

Ruto abandoned her post at the wheel and stood up next to them. "Prepare yourselves. It's a lizalfos!"

The monster swam up to them, then jumped out towards the boat with a spear in its hand. Komali's arms surged to life as he took aim.

"NO! KOMALI! DON'T!" Ruto shouted. But it was too late. Komali had fired a stream of electricity towards the Lizalfos, but it got channeled towards its horns and had no effect.

"Huh?" he asked.

"It's an electric Lizalfos! It's immune to electricity! You've just charged it up with electric power!" Ruto scolded. The Lizalfos responded by firing a thick volt of electricity towards them, which caused everyone but Komali to collapse on the ground.

Groaning and reeling from the electricity soaring through his body just a few seconds prior, Link pulled himself up to his knees with Malon and Zelda following. Ruto, however, laid on the ground. Zelda quickly rushed over and put her fingers on Ruto's neck.

"She's just fainted." Zelda said. "Let's take this thing down! Komali, deal with Ruto!"

Komali dropped all offense and ran to help Ruto and drag her onto a bench. Link grabbed his sword and prepared to strike, Malon ignited her hands again, and Zelda materialized her bow. He felt bad for Komali, but he really couldn't do anything in this situation.

"The horn's de-electrified! It looks like it needs to recharge before it can electrocute again!" Zelda observed. "We should strike between intervals!

Malon shot a stream of fire towards it, but the Lizalfos was covered in water and it had minimal effect.

"Dammit!" she shouted. The Lizalfos hopped onto the boat with a spear and shocked Zelda, causing her to collapse. Link tried to swing at its back, but it was covered in a thick layer of iron armor and the sword practically clanged off it. Zelda attempted to summon her light sword, but the Lizalfos knocked it away with its spear. She summoned a shield, but Link could definitely tell from her facial expressions that she couldn't keep it up for long.

"You have to go for its belly!" She shouted. "There's no armor!"

"I can't get under it! You're under it!" Link shouted.

"Then push it off of me!" Zelda shouted. Link ran up and tried to push it off of Zelda, as it rolled over onto its back. He took advantage of the situation to plunge the sword into its face, causing an ear-piercing scream to ring out and the corpse dissolve into an evaporating black sludge.

"Damn," Link breathed.

"Komali, is Ruto okay?" Zelda asked.

"She's fine, she's alive, she's just unconscious. I don't know when she'll wake up."

"Should I take the wheel?" Link asked. "I don't want to waste any time."

"Well… I don't see how you could get lost. I don't see why not." Zelda replied. Link walked up to the controls, and turned on the ignition to cruise down the river once again.

"There may be more of those things," Zelda said. "Just be on guard."

* * *

Luckily for them, no more Lizalfos appeared to ambush them in the next few hours.

"Ruto?" Komali asked, as her eyes fluttered open.

"W… what happened?"

"The Lizard thing shocked you."

She brought her hand down and smacked Komali on the cheek. "Dammit, Komali! Listen when I'm trying to talk to you!"

Komali rubbed his face. "Sorry."

"So, how'd you deal with it?"

"It wasn't really that difficult." Link said. "It pounced on Zelda and I managed to flip it over and stab it in the stomach.

"You guys have to be careful. There are electric, fire, and ice versions, as well as the typical Lizafos. Those need a few seconds to charge up their horns, but they can become instant charged if they absorb their element. "

"Are there monsters like that in Labrynna?" Zelda asked.

"Well… once you leave Hyrule, you're mostly in the clear. Ganon can't summon any monsters outside of Hyrule's boundaries, but he does have the ability to summon monsters at the border and send them through. That happens all the time."

Link thought for a second, bringing a finger up to his chin. "Uhh… how exactly can Ganon do this? Like, the laws and enforcement I understand, but how can he summon monsters? Who exactly is he?"

Ruto sighed. "I'll tell you all I know. Get comfortable. Originally, Ganon was born as a single male of the Gerudo Tribe. Every hundred years, one Gerudo male is born and is destined to be their leader. Their king. Using the loyalty of the Gerudo, he was able to take over most of Northern Hyrule, and eventually the entire country. But what most people don't understand… is that he is likely an Aura himself. We don't have anyone in the Resistance who's exactly come into contact with him and returned to tell the tale. But we do have theories and suspicions. We do believe that he is an Aura, and we call his ability Malice. It comes in the form of the blackish sludge that those monsters dissolve into. So far, we know that he could summon monsters with the Malice. But what else he could do, we're not sure yet. It is possible he could manipulate people with it, which could explain why he has so many followers, but that's just speculation."

"In that case, how are we going to take him down?" Malon asked. "How are we going to take him down if we don't know what he's capable of?"

"We have two options. Number one, overpower him. Use nothing but brute strength to bring him down to the ground, and make it so not even his malice can help him. Number two, however, is to fight fire with fire. For us to have something that Ganon isn't expecting. Say… a wild card."

"What would we have that Ganon wouldn't be expecting?" Link asked.

"Right now, it's likely going to be related fusing the ancient art of magic with the new technology of this modern era. But it could really be anything if something pops up."

"...Right," Link replied, unconvinced. He felt that with the options that Ruto just listed, there would be no way that they could successfully take down Ganon. Maybe his opinion would change as they would join the Resistance and get familiar with training, but for now everything seemed fruitless.

No matter. He just needed to get to Labrynna, and they could work something out. They just needed to train and be out of harm's way for now. Liberating their friends and family needed to wait.

* * *

 **Three Days Later**

The rest of the boat trip was smooth sailing. No more attacks, no more ambushes, nothing but them and the river.

"We're almost there." Ruto said. "Thirty more minutes."

"Where are we docking?" Zelda asked.

"We'll enter Lakeside, which is right on the shores of Lake Hylia. We'll dock there, then travel north to get to the border. Get your stuff ready."

Link nodded and brought everyone's backpacks out of the storage compartment, then tossed each bag to each person.

"We should probably get ready to fight," Link suggested.

"Why?" Ruto asked. "I mean, what makes you so sure that we're going to get ambushed?"

"I got another dream call from Ghirahim," Link explained.

"Who?" Ruto asked.

"When I fell asleep a while ago, a man named Ghirahim came to me in a dream. He told me that he was the head of a new organization created by Ganondorf to bring us down, and he would personally track us down and kill us."

"But it could just be a dream, though."

"Could be. You can never be sure." he replied. "We should be prepared nonetheless."

Everyone got on guard as the uncultivated lands morphed into old town blocks, similar to Tarrey's. After a few more minutes, the old town blocks morphed into giant, downtown city blocks.

"We should dock here," Ruto suggested. She steered the boat to the right of the river and tied it down to a pier.

"Are we just going to leave it there?" Link asked.

"It's not a big deal." Ruto replied. "It's not mine."

"Hold up," Zelda said, holding out a hand to stop Ruto. "Did you steal it?"

"No. It's a rental. This shop is where I got it in the first place."

"What about the massive bullet holes in the side?" Komali asked concerningly.

Ruto scratched the back of her neck. "That's why we should leave before they inspect it!"

She darted off the pier, right next to the rental shack, and into an alleyway across the street where luckily no one saw them.

"What are we going to do now?" Zelda asked. "Are we going to walk north? Is there a better or faster option?"

"We can rent a car." Ruto replied. "But there's no chance we're going to return that."

"Are there any subway or train systems that go north?" Link asked. Ruto shook her head.

"We'll just walk. It's only around ten miles from the northern lip of the city to the border."

Komali rubbed the top of his beak. "Speaking of the border… do we have any plans on how to get past it?"

"That's easy. It's the same way everyone on the Resistance makes their way in or out. While the Hyrule-Labrynna border is a firewall, the Hyrule-Termina border has as many holes as Swiss Cheese. There are fortified walls around roads and checking points around rivers, but if you go far enough away from the roads and rivers, it devolves to a simple fence that you could just jump over. But it's barbed wire so it's a bit painful."

"It's getting late. We should get into a hotel room or something before curfew hits." Zelda suggested. Ruto nodded.

* * *

Link and the others entered the lobby of a luxury hotel. And by luxury, he meant luxury. The floor was made of pure marble, there was a fountain in the lobby, all employees were dressed in suits and ties, there were white cushioned seats and tables, and there was a chocolate fountain! A CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN!

As Ruto was booking their hotel rooms, the chocolate fountain was the only thing that Link and Malon were interested in. They stared at it and dipped various foods into it, such as cherries, marshmallows, and pieces of cupcake. Once they ran out, they began straight-up dipping their fingers into it and licking the chocolate off.

"Really?" Zelda scolded. "We're in a formal place. You two don't have to act like nine-year-olds."

"Let me live, Zellie!" Malon retaliated.

Zelda sighed. "We're going to get thrown out if someone sees you. Did you wash your hands at least?"

Link and Malon both stared at their feet. He noticed that Komali almost fainted from their display of immaturity and lack of sanitization.

"You're going to get sick." she said, facepalming. Komali walked up to the front desk and requested that they replace the fountain, which they very quickly did.

Ruto walked up to them and leaned in their faces. "You don't have to worry about that. Auras don't get sick once their powers are unlocked."

Link cleared his throat.

"Sorry," Ruto said. "I'll elaborate more on what quirks come with being an Aura and I'll elaborate on everything else I need to once we get into that room."

* * *

"Geez, how much money do you have, Ruto?" Komali asked. This was the nicest hotel room that he had ever been in, even before Ganondorf's takeover.

The room was around the size of three Aura Complex dorms put together in a line. Directly in front of them was a long window that showed the metropolis of Lakeside from ten stories up. To their right was a sitting area with a glass dining table and six lounge chairs. To the left was a bedroom, which had five twin-sized beds, two sets in the form of bunk beds and one singular bed. Everything was brand new, not stained at all, and completely white.

Ruto pulled a few small electronic things from her backpack and stuck them to each side of the room. Once all eight of them were put onto the corners of the room, each one roared to life and emitted some blue light.

"What are those?" Malon asked.

"They're electronic scramblers. If this room is bugged, it scrambles any information that any microphones or cameras can receive, so they can't listen to us."

"That's useful." Link replied.

"As for your first question, Komali, the Resistance supplied me with thirty thousand rupees when I first became a scout a few months ago. But this is supposed to be my last mission, so might as well splurge a bit." she replied. "We're leaving the country tomorrow. Might as well relax, right?"

Zelda sat down on the sofa. "You have a point."

"I'm free to answer any of your questions when I'm not really focused on anything. Ask me anything about Auras, the Resistance, Labrynna, or Hyrule. Imagine we're on a forum or something. Don't hold back."

"Okay, so what else can Auras do?" Link asked. "Like, in addition to the powers, Saria told us that they could run faster, jump higher, take more of a beating, and you said that they can't get sick? What else can they do?"

"That's essentially the extent that we know of," Ruto replied, stretching her arms. "Who knows. Maybe we'll find something else. But for now, that's pretty much it."

"Life in Hyrule doesn't seem too bad if you're a law abiding citizen." Komali said. "I feel like it's just life with major restriction."

"That's because you've only seen the life; you haven't lived the life. For one, this year happens to be the most prosperous year they've had. The food and harvest season have been great, so no one's had to starve since. But if we have bad years, things get terrible. You'd have to drink muddy water, you'd starve, a single grain of rice would cost you five rupees."

"When did Ganon begin the takeover?" Zelda asked.

"W-well… It was around t-two months ago." Ruto stammered. Her words lined up with the facts as they knew it, but she sounded like she was lying.

"What's wrong?" Malon asked.

"Nothing. He began the takeover around two months ago."

"Mmm hmm!" Zelda hummed. "You said that this is the most prosperous year. Which implies that the other years weren't so prosperous!"

Link could tell that Ruto knew she was cornered, and Zelda was pissed.

"So let me ask you this. How long had it been since Ganon began his takeover? Why is this such a sensitive topic for you!?"

"Around a month and a half to two months. You guys experienced this yourself! Now just ask me something else!"

Their argument was interrupted by a knock on their door.

"Room service!" a male voice called.

"Did someone order room service?" Ruto asked. Everyone shook their head.

Link sighed and walked to the door, prepared to tell the waiter that he had the wrong room number. He turned the knob and faced the waiter.

His jaw dropped. The room service cart was fully stocked with cakes and plates. But the thing that really took him by surprise wasn't the food. It was the waiter.

Behind the cart was the menacing smile of Ghirahim. "Nice to see you in the flesh."


	23. Chapter 23

**Arc 2: On the Run**

 **Chapter 23: Goodbye, Hyrule!**

* * *

 _ **~Zelda~**_

Link had opened the door to reveal the waiter with the food. But instead of shooing him off or telling him that he made a mistake, they stared at each other for a while. What was he doing?

"Sorry, you must have the wrong room," Zelda said. "We didn't order anything."

"No, this is the right room," the waiter replied. He flipped his long, white, emo hair and walked inside the room.

"Uhh…" Link trailed.

"Sir, you're in the wrong room." Zelda repeated. Ruto seemed to grow concerned as the man pushed the cart into the middle of the room and put his hand on the metal food lid.

"We didn't order this…" Ruto said. "Please leave."

He lifted up the lid to reveal what looked like a pistol. He quickly grabbed it and aimed it straight at Link. In response. Link grabbed his sword and whacked the gun out of his hand.

"It's Ghirahim!" Link shouted. He darted straight for the gun that Ghirahim dropped. Luckily, Ghirahim didn't react as fast as Link picked up the pistol and aimed it straight at him.

"Don't move or I'll shoot." Link scolded.

"Ha. You think a measly little pistol can stop me of all people?" Ghirahim asked. He took a step forwards.

Link kept his promise. He pulled the trigger as a bullet lodged itself in Ghirahim's abdomen. Blood splattered everywhere, but Ghirahim did not look the least in pain. He simply shoved his fingers into the bullet hole, retrieved the bullet, and dropped the metal gumdrop onto the ground with a faint *clang*. The blood seemed to form a mini-shell above Ghirahim's wound, then evaporated to reveal little trace of an injury besides the torn clothing.

"You want to try that again?" He asked. Malon picked up the glass table and smashed it on Ghirahim's head, causing his head to reel downwards and little shards of glass to impale into his face. Once again, his expression looked like nothing had happened. He simply used his fingers to pick out every piece of glass, and the wounds all vanished before you could even blink.

"Nice try, though." Ghirahim replied.

Zelda summoned her bow, and aimed the arrow straight at Ghirahim's face. She released the bowstring, causing the arrow to lodge itself in his cheek, right under his left eye. He snickered, pulled the light arrow out with his hand, and his cheek healed itself with zero trace of an injury.

"Now that you've had your fun, it's about time I had mine."

Ghirahim swung a punch at Link, which caused him to reel backwards. Malon tried to scorch him, but he shrugged it off and put her into a chokehold. Komali attacked him with Link's sword (which he dropped) and stabbed Ghirahim three times in the chest before Ghirahim swatted it away. The hole in his chest healed right back up as if nothing had happened. Malon managed to squiggle free from Ghirahim's monster grip, and lit her hands on fire and placed them on Ghirahim's face. He seemed completely unfazed, however, and flipped and slammed her on her back judo-style. Zelda kept firing arrows at him, but he ripped them out and instantly healed. Link gripped the sword and shanked Ghirahim in the thigh, but each attempt was fruitless. Ghirahim didn't even seem like he could feel pain.

Zelda leaned in to Ruto. "What do we do?"

"I don't think there's anything we can do. We just have to run!"

Ruto grabbed one of the chairs and threw it at the giant floor-to-ceiling window of the hotel room, shattering it.

"Jump!" She shouted.

Zelda approached the edge, frightened at the sheer drop. "Ruto, I don't thi-"

She was interrupted by a pair of hands pushing her off the edge. She screamed and howled as the fountain in the front of the hotel began erupting water upwards, creating a giant water cylinder that cushioned her fall. Ruto, Komali, Malon, and Link followed, as the fountain water returned to normal levels.

"No time! Just follow my lead!" Ruto shouted. Everyone nodded, but Zelda looked upwards at the hotel room that they had just left. Ghirahim was gone, presumably to take the stairs or elevator.

Komali scrunched his face as twelve copies of them appeared around the front of the hotel. However, they were all inanimate.

"Can you make illusions that move?" Zelda asked.

"I don't think so." he replied.

"We're wasting time, people!" Ruto shouted. "Let's go!"

She began running to the left and up the street. Luckily, it hadn't hit curfew yet, so there were still cars and pedestrians to hide amongst. For now, it seemed like it was only Ghirahim that was after them, but that could change at any time.

"Taxi!" Ruto shouted, putting her hands in the air. A taxi cab pulled up next to them.

"How can I help you?" he asked.

"We're borrowing your car." Ruto replied.

"Uhh… can I just take you there?"

Ruto opened the door and pulled the cab driver out, and got into the drivers' seat herself. Zelda sat into the passenger seat, with the other three teens in the back.

"That was rude of you," Zelda scolded.

"We're in a situation of life and death. I'll be rude if it means I won't die."

Zelda looked in the side mirror to see the outline of Ghirahim running after them.

"Calling for backup! Over!" Ghirahim shouted, presumably into his walkie-talkie. He got into what looked like a military vehicle.

"You three projectile spam whoever's following us!" Ruto said, pointing at Zelda, Malon, and Komali, who all agreed. Ruto slammed onto the acceleration and sped off into the roads of Lakeside. Ruto opened the sunroof.

"Zelda! You fire arrows and project shields if anyone's chasing us!" Ruto commanded. Zelda unbuckled and stuck her torso through the sunroof.

The night lights of Lakeside made it pretty clear that Ghirahim and two other cars were following them. There were a few military personnel leaning off the sides of the vehicles, artillery in hand, aiming directly towards the taxi. She could tell they were just about to fire, so she projected a giant shield to cover the back end. The largest shield that she had created so far.

It was just in time too. The second after she had projected the shield, a barricade of bullets and other weapons began firing at them, smashing against her shield like putty. With each bullet that impacted, she could feel a bit of her energy sap away, but she could sustain it long enough for the soldiers to stop firing. Zelda summoned her bow and pierced an arrow into one of the vehicles' tires, popping it and causing the truck to swerve and collapse on its left side.

Zelda fell back down through the sunroof and buckled into her seat.

"Good job!" Link congratulated. Komali and Malon each had their side windows open and were chucking fireballs and bolts at the remaining two trucks, respectively.

"Ruto? Where are we heading?" she asked.

"We're going north to the Terminan border, of course! They're official Hyrulean governmental employees, right? If we can make it past the border, then by law, they wouldn't be able to touch us! If they do, and they're caught, they will break the agreement between Hyrule and Termina, and Termina will be pissed. I don't think even Ganon wants to take that risk!"

"Ghirahim's essentially unkillable. Escaping is our only option!" Komali explained.

Zelda kept her eyes on the windshield as they quickly swerved around the streets. Up ahead, there was a three-way intersection, with both the left and right blocked off by police cars. Straight ahead, however, there was a dimly lit park next to a small-scale lake.

"What are we going to do!" Link asked.

"Brace yourselves!" Ruto screamed. Instead of turning, she went straight into the park and onto the lake. However, miraculously, they didn't sink. Ruto's powers allowed them to drive straight over the lake and out onto the other side. However, it was a really bumpy ride.

The vehicles chasing them followed them into the park, with one of the two driving into the lake and collapsing. Ghirahim's truck stayed intact.

Ruto drove out back onto the city roads on the other side of the park after evading multiple trees and lampposts.

Komali snapped his fingers, causing two identical copies of their taxi to appear on either side of them and drive down opposite roads. Ghirahim's vehicle followed one of them to the right.

"Great job!" Malon said, hi-fiving Komali.

"Ow!" he groaned.

Malon's hands were still engulfed in flame. "Haha… sorry."

Ruto huffed. "Hopefully that can deter them long enough for us to get to the border."

Link scratched the back of his neck. "How long will it take?"

"From here? Around ten minutes. Just sit tight and tell me if you notice anyone coming for us."

Zelda took a few seconds to calm down and catch her breath before asking Ruto another question.

"Will it be difficult to get to Labrynna from Termina?" she asked. "Saria said they could deport us."

"They're supposed to deport us, as in the agreement between the two countries in exchange for not being invaded or attacked, but you don't need to worry too much about that. Though they're supposed to deport you, they're not allowed to kill or assault you, so you could just run from them. Most Terminan police don't even care if you're a Hyrulean escapee, as it's not really a huge issue, but few will. Even then, they don't have very much proof. And Ghirahim or anyone else isn't supposed to come after you. Hyrulean governmental employees are not allowed inside the country unless the Parliament of Termina approves."

"How are we going to get past the Termina-Labrynna border?"

"That's not an issue either. You don't even need a passport to get between those countries. Just run through."

Ruto stopped the cab and ushered everyone to get out.

"Where is it?" Malon asked. Ruto pointed as everyone darted in that direction.

After running a few minutes in that direction, two metal watchtowers with a massive gate and kiosk in the center came into view.

"There's the border gate." Ruto informed. "Go left of it or else we'll get spotted."

Ruto strafed left and ran until the watchtowers were out of view and the strong concrete border wall devolved into an average fence.

"Alright. We can go for it now!" Ruto exclaimed. "Around here there should be a piece of fence that you can just pull back and go through. I don't know if they fixed it, though."

The group of five began running the sixty feet to the fence for their freedom.

This was it. The moment that they were all waiting for. They could escape this harsh country and finally make it into a place where no one's trying to kill them. It would be a cakewalk to get back down to normal life.

*BANG*

Was that… was that a gunshot?

"AAAHHHh!" Ruto shouted. She gripped the left side of her abdomen, which began seeping blood.

"Well… well… welll!" a voice rang out. Ghirahim appeared from the shadows of the nearby trees with a revolver in his hand. "You thought you could outrun me. That you could fool me. You were so close too… but too bad! I win tonight!"

No one moved a muscle. They knew that Ghirahim could endure any attack that they sent through, and trying to attack him would do nothing but sap their energy.

"Now, come back over here and let me kill you without a struggle."

No way in hell that was going to happen.

"You know…" Komali began. "We might not be able to beat you."

"But we can stall you enough to get through the border."

Zelda used her light powers to blast a beam of light in Ghirahim's eyes, causing him to be blinded. Malon sent a few fireballs towards Ghirahim to stall him and distract him. Ruto used the last of her strength to pull groundwater up and soak Ghirahim as Komali sent a few bolts to stall and inflict deafening pain. As a last resort, Link threw his sword and impaled Ghirahim, with the sword going all the way through his chest and pinning him to the soft soil.

Komali snapped his fingers to coat the area in a thick layer of fog, which dissipated after a few moments.

"Do you remember where the fence was?" Komali asked.

"It's this way!" Ruto weakly replied, tugging on Zelda's hand. They walked towards the fence, felt around it, and peeled it backwards. One by one, they each escaped through the fence until only Zelda, Link and Ruto were left.

"You first." Zelda insisted. Ruto gripped her bullet wound as Zelda helped push her through.

"YOU! I WILL FULFILL MY LORD'S REQUEST! I WILL NOT LOSE! I WILL GET AT LEAST ONE OF YOU! MY HONOR DEPENDS ON IT!"

Ghirahim pulled the sword out of his abdomen and stood up to see Zelda and Link standing outside of the fence, ready to go through. He grabbed Link's sword, ran up to Link, and swung straight at his neck.

But it went clean through Link's neck with little resistance. As if they were made of air. Slowly realizing what happened, the fence, Link, Zelda, and Ruto dissipated like a mirage. Turning around, he faced the real fence behind him with all the teens running away.

Ghirahim fell to his knees and let out a scream of pure rage and frusturation. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo!"

* * *

Zelda hobbled forwards with Ruto's arm over each of their shoulders before collapsing on the dirt in a forest a few hundred feet away from the fence.

"Great job with that illusion, Komali!" Link congratulated. "First time making moving and speaking illusions, right?"

"Yeah… and it was exhausting…"

"Malon, do you have the potion?" Zelda asked, kneeling in front of Ruto with the bullet hole oozing blood.

"N… no." Ruto replied. "Don't use the potion. There's a bullet in me, and the potion's just going to seal it in there for more problems later. I'm a Labrynnan citizen with a passport, so I won't get deported and they'll take me to the hospital. You guys go. You don't need my help anymore."

"How's an ambulance going to find you?" Komali asked concerningly.

"There's a cell phone in my bag. Go get it real quick."

After Ruto had made the call, everyone sat there, comforting her.

"We're right next to the border, and you don't have any foreign passports. You need to leave before they suspect you of illegal border entry and deport you back for Ghirahim to finish you off. Clock Town's around fifty miles east. You can take a train to Symmetry City from there. Impa'll help you get citizenship," Ruto directed. "Go! You need to go!"

Zelda stood up and wiped a tear off her cheek. "Come on, guys, let's go."

* * *

"We're in the clear! Why do we have to walk so much?!" Malon complained.

"Do you want to get to Labrynna, or do you just want to stay here forever?" Link asked.

Malon fell silent as they continued walking along the side of the freeway.

Besides whining over walking more, for the most part, everyone seemed content and happy that they were finally out of that hellhole.

"When we get to Clock Town, do you want to rest at a hotel room or just go straight to the train terminal? There's no curfew here so I don't see why we can't do what we want. And Ruto gave us most of the money she had left." Zelda suggested.

"Lets go straight to the terminal. We can sleep on the train or while we're waiting." Link said. "I know we're all exhausted and everything, but I just want to get this out of the way and be completely safe and shielded by the Labrynnan government. We've already risked enough. I don't want everything to be for naught."

"I get it," Komali said.

Malon undid her ponytail and let her black-but-red-at-the-top hair flow down to her shoulders. "That's been irritating me for the past week."

Komali facepalmed. "You do realize that you could've taken that off in the boat or in the hotels or anytime we weren't in public, right?"

"Shut up."

* * *

Clock Town was almost three times as enormous as any of the already large Hyrulean cities. There were massive skyscrapers, Zelda guessed averaging 60 stories, with a twice-as-tall clock tower, its namesake, smack in the center of the city. The streets were twice as wide as they were in Tarrey and brightly lit with massive streetlights. Several streetcars roamed around the streets, still full, despite it being around 3 AM.

"This is a nice change of scenery from running for our lives in Hyrule, don't you think?" Link teased.

Zelda yawned and rubbed her eyes. "I guess so."

Komali pulled aside a random Gerudo passerby. "Excuse me, ma'am, do you know how to get to the main train station?"

"Oh, you just need to keep going straight, turn left at Flora Road, turn right on Luxe Street, and it's on your left."

"Thank you." Komali replied. The Gerudo woman began walking off to wherever she was going.

"Hopefully this entire train ride can go down without a hitch." Zelda said. Link smacked her shoulder and lectured her for jinxing them.

* * *

The Clock Town train station was the most impressive building that Zelda had seen so far. While the outside had the shape of a military hangar, it had stained glass windows, and was made almost completely out of white marble with several tower-like protrusions on either side. Gargoyles and other marble statues adorned the front side.

After entering, they made their way to the ticket kiosk.

"Excuse me, sir?" Zelda asked.

"Yes? What can I do for you?"

"When's the next train to Symmetry City?"

"The next train departs at 9 AM."

"Alright, we need four tickets, please!"

The ticketman began typing a few things out onto his computer and then printed out four tickets.

"How old are y'all?"

"We're all fifteen-sixteen."

"You qualify for the 'minor' price… that'll be 5000 rupees."

Malon and Zelda counted out exactly 5000 rupees and pushed them straight to the ticketman, who exchanged the money for their tickets.

"Terminal six on your right. 13-hour ride, breakfast, lunch, and dinner included." he said, pointing to the terminal. The four drowsy kids began walking to their terminal and collapsed on the bench.

"Do you think it's necessary to continue our 'lookout' tradition?" Link asked.

"Who cares. Let's rest." Malon said, almost instantaneously conking out.

She was right. They were in Termina now, and authorities had no proof that they had just come in from Hyrule. If any of their stuff were to be stolen, it wouldn't really matter, as they'd just come into Labrynna tomorrow and they wouldn't have to travel at all. They didn't even have to worry about passports if what Ruto said stayed true.

Zelda bunched up her old cardigan and used it as a makeshift pillow on the bench they were sitting on, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Zelda was in a car. An oddly familiar car. To her left, was an oddly familiar blonde-haired boy. It certainly wasn't Link, but he seemed… familiar somehow. She knew that she had seen his face somewhere in her life before, but she couldn't recall anything. She couldn't recall his name, his personality, or his relation to her. But… this man was certainly a part of her life.

"Where are we going?" Zelda asked.

"We're going south to Labrynna. Because of the war, Labrynna's opened all arms to refugees. We've gotta get down there before Ganondorf takes over the rest of Hyrule!"

Zelda turned around to check if anyone was trailing them on the winding mountain road. "But what about the rest of Hyrule! We're abandoning the country! What are the citizens of Hyrule going to do without us?"

"If you were to stay, they'd capture you after they learn what you can do. They're kidnapping people like you, Zelda. Regardless of what happens, you'll be absent. As your older brother, it's my responsibility to make sure you're safe at all times."

Zelda wanted to ask questions. But, her mouth moved on its own, not saying what Zelda wanted, but what felt like a preprogrammed message. Was this one of her memories?

"But, I can't just abandon those helpless Hyrulean citizens!"

"If they're smart, they'll do the same thing we're doing before it's too late." he said. "You're my responsibility. Besides, Mom and Dad are already doing their best to handle everything. Hyrule will be fine. We'll return once this entire civil war blows over."

A soft 'woosh' sound came from behind them. Before Zelda could turn around to see what that was, their left wheel exploded as the car flipped over onto its hood and skidded for a good thirty feet as her head took a great impact on the dashboard. Enduring the immense pain, Zelda and the other guy unbuckled their seatbelts, groaned, and crawled out of the wreck.

They were greeted face-to-face with a few redshirts, one of which immediately seized Zelda and put a gun to her head.

The redshirt that had Zelda faced her brother. "If you don't want anything to happen to her, run away. Run into Labrynna. We don't care. But if you interfere, try to get her back, I'll kill you both. Deal?"

"Run!" Zelda shouted. "I'll be fine! Just run!"

Her brother took one step towards Zelda as the redshirt cocked the gun which reverberated loudly down her right ear canal. "Might want to rethink that."

"Just go! I'm already done for! Save yourself!"

Her brother began crying and slowly turned around, running away.

"I'LL MISS YOU!"

"Shut up!" the redshirt scolded, whacking her in the temple with a baton, causing her to black out.

* * *

Zelda bolted up, completely drenched in her own sweat, colliding her head with Komali's

"Aah!" Zelda shouted. "Why is your beak so damn sharp?!"

"Sorry!" Komali replied. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

"Were you alright?" Malon asked. "You were sweating and muttering lines in your sleep"

"Don't worry. It's not an issue."

She stood up and stretched her arms. "What time is it? There's light flowing through the windows."

"It's 8:30. They're almost boarding; I was just about to wake you up." Link said. "Grab your bags."

Zelda clutched her backpack and boarded the train, ticket in hand. Though she knew they were almost certainly safe, she couldn't help but feel concerned. It was a terrible setup to have no security system here.

As they approached their seats and stored their bags in the overhead container, Zelda collapsed in her surprisingly comfortable chair. Was that really one of her memories, or was it just a dream, a product of her cognition?

A slight tug in her stomach indicated that the train began to depart.

"I… I feel that Ghirahim got what he deserved." Zelda said. "We weren't able to kill him, not like we wanted to, but I get the feeling that living knowing that he miserably failed his beloved lord's orders is a much worse punishment than the noble death trying to fulfill those orders."

"I get your point," Link replied. "But I wanted to kill him. I wanted him dead."

"Get rid of that mindset. Throw it out the window. Right now." Zelda scolded. "That mindset makes you no better than Ghirahim."

Link nodded. "He was unkillable anyway."

Komali coughed, then sat back up in his chair. "No one's unkillable. There's some way to kill him, even if it's ridiculous or out of the way."

"Do you think we'll have any more issues on this train ride?" Malon asked.

"I doubt it, but you can never be sure." Zelda replied. "Keep your guard up, but not too up. Just enjoy the leisure while you can. I haven't felt this calm since… ever!"

* * *

The train had the best service. Each meal felt like it was made by a three Michelin Star restaurant chef. It was the most delectable thing that she had ever eaten, even surpassing the restaurant that Saria had recommended in Hateno. They also had constant refills of apple cider and other drinks. Malon wanted a cabernet, but the attendants were smarter than that.

After the 13 hours, the train finally stopped and pulled up at the Symmetry City train station. Taking one step outside, Zelda took in a breath of fresh air. They were here. They were safe.

"Y'know, Zelda, the air here is the exact same as the air in Hyrule and Termina. It's not any different at all." Komali said.

"Shut up. You're such a buzzkill!" Zelda scolded. But she couldn't stay mad. They were out of danger. They could go on to live a semi-normal life, at least for now.

"TAXI!" Link shouted. A cab pulled up as the four of them crawled inside.

"Hello, do you know 'All Star Pawn Shop'?" Zelda asked. The driver nodded and made his way into the 10 o' clock town of Symmetry City. The cab ride was eerily quiet, but Zelda took the time to look outside and marvel at the city. She could afford it now, at least.

Symmetry City was almost twice the size of Clock Town. Once again, there were massive skyscrapers and massive amounts of cars, but the streets were the cleanest that she had ever seen. Little boys and girls were running around, chasing each other in the streets and sidewalks. The citizens were happy.

The cab pulled up to the pawn shop. They humbly thanked and paid their driver and stood in front of the bright pawn shop. It was a typical shop building, with a shop on the bottom and housing on top. Nervous, Zelda turned the handle and pushed inside the shop to see it somewhat busy. She walked up to the nearest worker, an old woman.

"Hello? Is Impa here?" Zelda asked.

"That's me!" Impa replied. "And you four are those Auras that Saria and Ruto recruited?"

"Yes. That's us." Komali replied.

Impa stuck her hand out for a handshake. "We have a lot to talk about."

* * *

"I am sorry, Lord Ganondorf." Ghirahim said, kneeling at Ganondorf's throne. "I was tricked. I have failed you!"

"To think that one of my most loyal and most useful, most versatile servants would fail to a group of children."

"I was so close, my lord! Please give me mercy! I am so sorry!"

"I'm sorry too." Ganon waved his hand as a spear covered in a purple sludge protruded from the floor, impaling Ghirahim in the heart.

"You might not be killable by physical means, but there's nothing a little poison can't fix." Ganon said. "Such a shame too. You were so promising. Hopefully you will serve the afterlife better than you have served me."

Ghirahim looked up at his master, slowly choking and writhing. He coughed three spurts of blood before he collapsed onto the floor and stopped moving.

"Hopefully my fanclub will do a better job." Ganon replied. "The Yiga never fail to impress me."

* * *

 **End of Arc 2**

* * *

 **A/N: That's a wrap on Arc 2! Arc 3 in particular is the one I'm most excited to get to, their double life as Labrynnan Students as well as superheroes. It'll probably be the longest arc because of how many ideas I have for it. There may or may not be other major characters introduced here as well, as well as a few twists. Anyways, please review, follow, favorite. Or not, I can't control you.**

 **Also, screw my weekly schedule. I hate waiting to post chapters. I'll post when I feel like it, but I'll just try to keep it to minimum of 1 update a week.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Arc 3: Of Heroes and Homework**

 **Chapter 24: Settle Down**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

Everyone shook Impa's hand as they greeted each other.

"What are your names?" Impa asked.

"Link, Malon, Zelda, and Komali." Link said, pointing to each person. Impa stared profusely at Zelda for a while, which seemingly made Zelda a bit uncomfortable, but she eventually dropped it.

"You guys match the description. Follow me.

Impa gave a hand motion, becking them to follow her. She led them into the back of the pawn shop as she took down a painting to reveal a number pad. After shielding it from the rest of them, she input a code which resulted in the wall behind them retracting and opening to reveal a metal elevator.

"Come inside," Impa said. Link nervously stepped inside with the others as the doors closed. Impa put a key in the wall, which triggered the elevator to descend down a few floors. The doors opened to reveal what looked like an extremely futuristic lab. It was mostly dark with a few blue lights, and several technological pieces of equipment.

"You four are Auras, right? You're looking to join the Resistance, right?"

"Yes, that's correct." Link said. "Well… those three are Auras, I'm just kind of a tagalong."

"Alright, let's keep this nice and simple. Tomorrow, we'll go get you a passport and Labrynnan citizenship, as well as refugee status so you can get extra benefits. The day after, we'll sign you up for school at Northeast Symmetry High. They immediately accept any Hyrulean refugees."

"That quick?" Link asked.

"I know you're exhausted, but I don't want you guys to miss out on school."

Zelda nodded. "Makes enough sense."

Impa sighed and sat down in a chair in her lab. "Before we do anything else, I need to tell you all something. I've told Ruto and Saria to keep quiet about it, because I didn't want it to get in the way of your escape, but you're going to have to know. If I don't tell you at all, you'll learn it one way or another."

Link glanced at Zelda, Malon, and Komali. Something was going to come up, and they weren't going to like it.

Impa pointed to a blue couch behind them. "Take a seat. This is going to be a long one."

As everyone sat down on the couch, Impa scooted her chair up to them. "It's the truth behind everything that's happened so far. Why I've told Ruto and Saria to not bring up the truth of the invasion of Hyrule. Tell me, how long do you think it's been since Ganon began the secession of North Hyrule by force?"

"Uhh…" Link said. "Maybe two months? A little less?"

Komali and Malon nodded in agreement.

"How long do you think it took for Ganon to take over the entire country after North Hyrule?"

Zelda was deep in thought. "From the looks of it, minimum around three weeks."

"Do you think it's possible to take over an entire country that's fighting back in three weeks and install rule and order that quickly?"

Zelda and Komali shook their heads. What was Impa getting at here?

"You're right. It didn't take three weeks. It took a little bit over two years total."

"But, two years hasn't passed yet," Malon replied. Impa shook her head.

"There's a huge gap of time between when you were captured by Ganon's forces and when you woke up in the Aura Complex."

"What do you mean?" Link asked.

Impa sighed in dismay. "Let me tell you the entire process that went into your capture. First, they captured you and put you in a truck. Then, when they were close enough to the Complex, or at least the future site of the Complex, they hit you with a knockout gas."

"I could've figured that much myself," Komali said. "But what do you mean 'future site'? The Complex was there when we woke up."

"Here's the point you couldn't see. After you were knocked out, the redshirts put you into these pods, and you underwent stasis for years while they attempted to research the Aura gene. Years later, Ganondorf III took a huge risk and turned the research facility into a livable area so he could see your powers in action. He released you from your stasis and set you loose into the facility so he could study them better."

"Hold up," Malon said. "Did you say Ganondorf III? The 3rd?"

"Yes." She replied.

"How long were we in stasis?" Zelda asked. "How long?"

"I don't know exactly when you were captured, so I'll answer your question with one number. 2084."

2084? What did she mean by that? Surely they weren't taken 2084 years into the future? The earth would be literally destroyed at that point. Maybe… the year was 2084? That would mean… they were in stasis for 65 years?

"..."

"I-I don't believe you." Komali said, turning around.

"Surely you've seen the evidence," Impa replied. "Everyone accepted Ganon's rule as fact. No one besides the scouts I've sent you would be the least bit rebellious. No one seemed shocked at the way they were treated. That's just life in Hyrule these days."

"But- but what about my family?" Link asked, almost crying. "What happened to them?"

"That… I truly don't know." Impa said. "They could be living under Ganon's rule at this point. They could've fled to Labrynna as you have. Or they could've been killed by Ganon's forces. There's no way to tell. Because of the frequency that Ganon executes civilians, they don't keep records unless you're a person of interest."

Link went silent. His family was gone. Even if they were still alive, they would think he's dead, and even if he were to find them, they wouldn't recognize him. Not even liberating Hyrule from Ganon could fix that.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Zelda asked. "You seem a little bit… too knowledgeable."

"I knew it would come to this. That day, 65 years ago, my sister was taken hostage. As a 22 year old, they forced me to work to construct the research facility. I saw what they did to you. But once my sister managed to escape, I stopped working and followed in her footsteps. She lives here in Symmetry City now as well. Now, why don't you get a good night's rest upstairs in my guest room. I understand you're upset, and I won't force you to join the Resistance if you don't want to, but granting you citizenship and putting you into boarding school is the least I can do."

With that, Impa pointed to the elevator as everyone got inside.

* * *

Impa's guest room was what you'd expect. A typical room, two beds, and two windows out onto the street. But Link wasn't interested in that. He went from straight euphoria from being out of danger to pure despair from learning his family was dead or suffering.

Zelda was the least fazed, of course. Without her memories, she didn't have anyone back at home to worry much about. He couldn't get into the other two's heads, but Malon and Komali were definitely untalkative.

He sighed. After that 18-hour train ride, he was exhausted. He crawled into the bed next to Komali and shut his eyes, waiting for escape from this cruel world.

* * *

The next few days went by smoothly, though their status was the only thing on his mind. Mom and Dad were around 39 by the time he was taken. At this point, they were almost certainly dead. There would be no way that they could live until 104. But Aryll was another story. She'd be an old woman these days, but she could still be alive.

He tried to deny it multiple times. But after Impa told them everything, everything he saw confirmed her story. Newspapers with the date 2084. The TriPhone 85. Only electric cars roamed the streets. World-famous singers that he's never heard of. Everything.

He tried to put his spirits up several days later once he had his very own Labrynnan passport in his hand. The shock had died down a bit. This was a new life. His family was probably doomed anyways. Even if he had done something differently, the result would still be the same.

It wasn't like his family died right in front of him. It wasn't like it was his fault this happened. It didn't have the same impact as going to their funeral, as they likely didn't have one. Aryll could still be alive. But as of now, he had no way to truly check.

That wasn't very important at the moment. What was important was focusing on the now. On school. Tomorrow, Impa would drive them to Northeast Symmetry High for their boarding program. She wouldn't be able to house them forever.

Currently, they were all sitting around Impa's dining room table.

"What's the school like?" Link asked.

Impa chuckled. "I see you're excited to get back to school."

Link wiped his mouth. "After all that running and fighting, I'm actually pretty excited to get back to a normal life."

Zelda, Malon, and Komali nodded in agreement.

"It's the best high school in the country. It's very hard to get into, so the elites have the highest chances of getting in. As in, people in the top of their class, people who have shown off extraordinary talents, people who have helped lead middle school sports teams to victory. A lot of them are quite normal people who got lucky in their acceptances. Some of them just got in because they're rich or famous. But they also accept all Hyrulean refugees and provide full scholarships to pay for the entirety of the tuition, so you're quite lucky."

Link nodded. He was going to the best school? That was great.

"The school itself is very large. Part of the school is designated for dorms and living facilities, and the rest of it is a college-like high school. It's known as 'The Future of Labrynna'. But be careful. Because of that last part and the fact that they accept Hyrulean Refugees, it's a potential target for the Yiga that I'm surprised they haven't attacked yet. So be on guard."

Everyone nodded.

"Last question. Will you join the resistance?" Impa asked. "If not, it's perfectly fine."

"Yes, I'm in." Link said. "Gotta give Ganon what he deserves!"

"Ditto!" Zelda said.

"Same!" Malon said.

Komali rubbed his eyes. "Eh. Why not?"

Impa pulled up four smartphones. "These are for you. Be sure to add each other's numbers as well as mine."

Link gripped the phone. Was this a TriPhone? Even back in 2019, TriPhones were in style, but it looked nothing like an the TriPhone he was used to. Turning it around, he saw the distinctive TriPhone logo of a triangle with an electric tower through it. Damn, it was huge.

He opened it and instantly went to the Contacts button to add everyone in, and then formed a group chat.

L: What's up fam?

M: Your an idiot.

K: *You're

Z: Test

"Alright, we're good!" Zelda said, stuffing her phone in her pocket. "Gotta get a nice case for that."

"I want to see each of you every Sunday at 3:00." Impa said. "If you want to truly join the Resistance, you're going to have to train."

"Oh, Impa," Komali asked.

"Yes?"

"Is it alright we're joining school now? It's mid February. I feel like school's going to end before we even know it."

"Oh, the school system in Labrynna is different. It actually starts the second Monday of January, and runs until the Friday before Christmas, with shorter two-week holiday breaks during the year. The two week breaks include Summer Break, Spring Break, and Autumn Break, with the span between school years technically being Winter Break. Then you've got holidays off."

Komali nodded.

Link raised his hand. "One more thing. Can you test if I'm an Aura or not? Vaati at the Aura Complex told me I was a control subject, but I want to know if he was lying or not."

Impa solemnly nodded. "Follow me to the lab. Everyone."

Everyone followed Impa to the lab. Impa brought Link to a small machine with a spike and a scanning machine on top, then handed Link a thumb-sized sheet of plastic.

"Prick your finger," Impa commanded. "Then wipe it on this plastic sheet. I'll inspect it."

Link used the spike to stab his finger until a small amount of blood came out of it. Then, he wiped it on the plastic sheet and handed it to Impa, who put it in the machine.

Impa put her eyes on what looked like a microscope to inspect the blood.

He waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Impa finally stuck her eyes off the microscope and faced Link.

"That settles it. You're not an Aura." She said.

Link couldn't feel upset. He expected that. Deep down, he knew he was normal. He just needed to confirm it.

"But," Impa said. "We've found something else in the gene besides it. I don't know what that is, and they likely overlooked it at the Aura Complex. It might be a power like the Auras, it might be benign and not do anything, or it could be a life threatening disease. I don't know. I'm not worried now, but we should monitor it in the event it's something negative that can impact you later."

Link nodded, licking his lips. Secretly, he felt kind of like a gambler. The possibility that it could be a power excited him. But the possibility that it could be a fatal disease scared him and stressed him out.

"I'm an old woman, so it's around my bedtime." Impa croaked. "Anything you'd like to ask me before I'm out for the night?"

"Saria and Ruto said we could be superheroes?" Malon asked.

"Oh. That." Impa replied. "You could. It'd make for great training. But I think you should go to school and settle down for a bit before you focus on that. We'll talk about it next Sunday."

Impa stood up and left to her room, leaving the rest of them at the dining room table.

"I'm going to dye my hair back." Malon said.

"Yeah, me too." Zelda replied. Link nodded. He didn't really like his brown hair as much as his natural hair color.

Komali shrugged. "Alright."

* * *

The next morning, Impa drove the four teens, who now looked more like themselves with their hair back to normal and in their normal clothes through the streets of Symmetry City. Link stared out the window until they pulled up to a large, grassy area surrounded by a single building that looped around in a U-shape.

"You need to go to that door over there," Impa said, pointing straight ahead to the direct center of the U-shape. "Upstairs, you'll need to see the Headmaster who'll talk to you, tell you about the school, then give you schedules and your housing assignments."

Link nodded. This was the largest school he had ever seen. Impa wasn't lying about it being extraordinary.

He opened the car door and took one step out onto the campus.

* * *

 **OK, short chapter this time, but don't complain! 2 chapters in 2 days!**

 **I'd like to say thank you for reading this far! I'm also open to requests for one-shots based on this story but don't fit the main plotline. Just tell me the plot for the one-shot, which story arc you would like the one-shot to be placed in, (I will not be doing any Arc 3 stories until I put out a few more chapters) and any extra things you would like. I'll credit you for the idea!**

 **Also, you all have my permission to use my concept and story ideas. Just be sure to credit me and tell me you're doing it! I want to read your work!**

 **Give me ideas for possible superhero costume and name ideas for these characters. I have some kind of idea for some of them, but a lot of them I'm not sure.**

 **Note: I changed the school that they're going to be attending fr+om a college-like campus to a larger boarding school. I feel like I can write normal boarding schools better than colleges.**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Before we start, I'd like to say one thing. That bombshell I dropped last chapter was initially meant to be revealed in the middle of the arc in the planning phase of my story. But as the arc itself is supposed to take several months to a year, I realized that there was no way that our heroes would go over a month while not distracted by death and escaping the country without realizing it. As such, it was a last-minute decision to place it at the start of the arc while they still had a lot of other stuff to do, which is why the characters recover so fast from the shock. Carry on!**

 **Also, I forgot to mention, but Zoras and all other intelligent races do wear clothes. Lol.**

* * *

 **Arc 3: Of Heroes and Homework**

 **Chapter 25: Introductions**

* * *

 _ **~Zelda~**_

The four opened the main door to the school. As Zelda entered, she noticed it was one of the nicest schools she could ever imagine. The center door led into the school's main hall.

The room was circular with openings for hallways on both her left and right side. All around the walls were trophies and medals suspended in glass cases, and there was a circular stairwell leading upwards to what Impa claimed was the Headmaster's office. The floor was a typical school tile, but was polished so well that she could clearly see her own reflection in it.

Zelda gripped Link's hand and began ascending the stairs and arrived at the mahogany door at the top. She knocked on the door a few times.

"Come in!" a male voice said.

Zelda politely opened the door and entered the headmaster's office.

"Have a seat!" he said, gesturing to the four chairs conveniently placed in front of his desk.

The headmaster was this old, bald, plump man with very prominent white eyebrows, mustache, and beard. To be fair, his stature and facial hair made him look somewhat like an owl.

"Welcome to Northeast Symmetry High. I'm the headmaster of this fine school, Kaepora Gaebora. But you can call me Headmaster Gaebora. Or Principal Gaebora. Whatever you fancy."

He stuck his hand out for everyone to give him a handshake. Though, he seemed to stare a bit at Zelda.

"What?" she asked.

Headmaster Gaebora put his hands up in an apology. "Oh, I'm sorry. I could've sworn I've seen you somewhere before. You look familiar."

"Well, this is our first time in Labrynna, ever." Komali said. "It's probably just deja vu. Don't worry about it."

"Well… let this serve you four as a quick makeshift orientation for our school. On the left side of our building are our living quarters. That's where our dorms, laundry rooms, and other facilities are so you can live a comfortable life here. On the right side are our classrooms, labs, and other rooms you would find in a typical school. There are eight floors in total, though the eighth floor is reserved for faculty. We do have a cafeteria as well as some school stores where you could buy groceries, school supplies, electronics, and anything else you want. If something you need isn't there, you could always go back into Symmetry City and buy it there, or you could buy it off the internet. Any questions about the layout?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Feel free to explore later. Our school day runs from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and from 8:00 AM to 2:20 PM on Wednesdays and Fridays."

Headmaster Gaebora typed a few things on his keyboard, and printed out four school schedules for them.

"You will have a total of 7 periods."

Headmaster Gaepora handed them the school schedule handouts.

 _Monday:_

 _1st Period: 8:00 AM - 8:45 AM_

 _2nd Period: 8:55 AM - 9:40 AM_

 _3rd Period: 9:50 AM - 10:35_

 _4th Period: 10:45 - 11:30_

 _Homeroom: 11:50 AM - 12:10 PM_

 _Lunch: 12:20 AM - 1:15 PM_

 _5th Period: 1:25 PM- 2:10 PM_

 _6th Period: 2:20 PM - 3:05 PM_

 _7th Period: 3:15 PM- 4:00 PM_

 _Tuesday & Thursday:_

 _1st Period: 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM_

 _3rd Period: 9:40 AM - 11:10 AM_

 _Lunch: 11:20 AM - 12:40 PM_

 _5th Period: 12:50 PM - 2:20PM_

 _7th Period: 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM_

 _Wednesday & Friday:_

 _2nd Period: 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM_

 _4th Period: 9:40 AM - 11:10 AM_

 _Lunch: 11:20 AM - 12:40 PM_

 _6th Period: 12:50 PM - 2:20PM_

"And, here are your individual schedules." Headmaster Gaepora explained, handing each of them an individual schedule. Zelda's said:

 _Homeroom: Room 136, Kafei Michaels_

 _1st Period: Language Arts, Room 130, Ezlo Capps_

 _2nd Period: Labrynnan History, Room 346, Seres Sage_

 _3rd Period: Algebra 2, Room 421, Darmani Limestone_

 _4th Period: Hyrulean Mythology, Room 723, Jason Bo_

 _5th Period: Chemistry, Room 256, Syrup Magus_

 _6th Period: Geography, Room 321, Kaneli Sparrow_

 _7th Period: Physical Education, Gym, Urbosa Sands_

"Your classes start tomorrow," Headmaster Gaepora said. "We want to give you some time to adjust to this place before you dive straight into class."

Zelda nodded.

"We do have several policies that you should be aware of, each of which will result in a strike. First off, our dress code asks that you keep your shoulders covered and all bottoms at or below fingertip's length when your arms are at your sides. No discrimination, that is racism, sexism, or homophobia, and no weapons, of course. You should be off now unless you have any other questions or concerns."

"Thank you, Headmaster." Link said after standing up and pushing his chair in.

"Hang on, Link." Headmaster Gaepora held. He picked up a pen and post-it note, and copied a few things down from his computer. "Your dorm assignments. Sorry, but I wasn't able to group you together with each other."

Gaepora slid each of them a post-it note with their dorm room number, and a key.

"It's almost four, so your roommates should be back soon." Gaebora said. "I'll see you later, nice to meet you. The housing segment of the school is on our right when you leave."

Zelda stood up and waved goodbye to Gaebora, as the rest of them followed out the door and down the spiral stairs.

"I guess we'll see each other… later?" Zelda asked. Everyone nodded and made their way down the hall.

Zelda stared at her key and room number. 235.

As she walked to her room and searched, she noticed how similar it was to her first day in the Aura Complex. She was in a confined, unfamiliar place with many other people her age, most of which she didn't know. Though, unlike the Aura Complex, the hallways were empty due to all the students being in class right now. And, they weren't 'locked' in here. They had the freedom to do whatever they wanted. There were no soldiers here to electrocute those people who didn't follow every minor rule. They had access to go outside. It was like the Aura Complex but actually… good.

After hopping on the ground floor elevator and made her way to the second floor, she walked through the halls and observed her environment. The hall was curved, since the building itself was curved in a U-shape. The floor was nice, carpeted brown, as the walls were stark white. However, unlike the Aura Complex, there was a window at the very end of the hall allowing white light to flow into the hallway.

Zelda was too busy looking at the place she would live that she ran straight into a young Sheikah girl who dropped all the books she was carrying.

"Eh? T-Tetra? I'm sorry!"

"Tetra?" Zelda replied, stopping in her tracks. "I-I'm not who you think I am. I'm new here."

Zelda bent over and collected the books and handed it to the girl.

The girl stood up and walked away with a weird look, constantly looking back at her. She was confused for a second, but she shook it off and looked for room 235 and located it on the left side.

She inserted the key and unlocked the room to see a neatly made but clearly slept-in bed on the left side, along with a desk with a laptop and neatly stacked paper piles and books closer to the door. The right side mirrored the left, though its bed and desk were completely empty and untouched. In the middle of the room was a small couch and a coffee table, right below a large window. In comparison to the Aura Complex, however, was that they seemingly had their own bathrooms instead of sharing one of them for all the girls.

Zelda didn't really have anything to unpack, as everything they carried around prior was survival gear that they didn't really need at a school, so she just hopped into her bed and lied down.

Judging from her roommate's side of the room, she was very much neater than Malon was at the Aura Complex, of which she was thankful for. Sliding open her desk drawer, she noticed a miniature map displaying all the facilities of the school, which once again, was very reminiscent of her experience in the Aura Complex. Reading it, in the Living Quarters, there were common rooms, cafeterias, a kitchen, a gym, a pool, things in a typical hotel.

She was so invested in reading the map that she almost missed the doorknob turning in front of her. Standing in front of her was a girl of a Zora-ish race (She couldn't really tell but looked similar to a Zora) in a light blue dress, who had a confused look on her face when looking at her.

"Tetra?" She asked. "What are you doing here? And why is your hair down?"

"I'm not Tetra! Why is everyone comparing me to this Tetra girl?" Zelda asked in annoyance. She sighed. "Sorry. I'm Zelda."

The woman shook her hand, skeptical. "Mipha."

Zelda stared at her for a bit. This woman looked Zora, but she was very distinct from how Ruto looked. She was afraid to ask, but she decided to risk you.

"Sorry to be a bit abrasive, but what are you?" She asked. "I mean, you look like you could be Zora, but you look different from a Zora I know."

Mipha chuckled. "I am Zora. But us Zoras are classified into Lake Zoras and Sea Zoras. I'm a Lake Zora, but Sea Zoras are typically a solid light blue color and other differences. Same with Island Rito and Mountain Rito. It's just that us Lake Zoras are a bit less common, so I don't really fault you for that"

Wow. Mipha was nice. Most other people would probably get offended at that remark.

"You're a Hyrulean refugee, right?" Mipha asked. Zelda solemnly nodded. "And you have no relation to Tetra or her brother?"

"No, but we must look pretty similar," Zelda said, staring out the window.

"Uncanny," Mipha replied. "So, how did you get here if you're from Hyrule?"

Zelda knew that, no matter how much she trusted Mipha or how close they got, she definitely should not tell her the entire truth. But, she came up with an elaborate white lie.

"Oh, well… I woke up in this brutal prison camp in the north of Hyrule with amnesia. There, I met my friends, you'll see them walking around eventually, but their names are Link, Malon, and Komali."

"You're an amnesiac?" Mipha asked, hand on her chest. "I'm so sorry."

Zelda clasped a hand on her neck. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to it, it's not that big of a deal anymore."

"What did your friends do to get to that camp?"

"T-They did absolutely nothing. If they did do something, then it was something minimal that they didn't even catch onto. They were kidnapped from their homes."

"Ooh. We learn all the time about the conditions of Hyrule, but we've never learned about a prison labor camp."

"Yeah. _Labor_ camp." Zelda lied. It wasn't quite a _labor_ camp, they weren't forced to work to stay alive. But at least this way it was believable and it wasn't _completely_ wrong. "Eventually, we escaped and made our way around the Terminan border and from Termina to here in Labrynna."

"Was it hard?" Mipha asked, eyes sparkling.

"Yeah. We almost died multiple times. Police and government went after us. We just got lucky enough to evade most conflicts and run from the conflicts that we did encounter. They began shooting into a crowd because of us!"

"Wow." Mipha exclaimed. "That's harsh."

Zelda nodded and pulled up her phone, and began to text the group in a way that Mipha could not see.

 **Z: Okay, everyone. I've come up with a white lie to tell others when they ask about our experiences. Just say it was a prison labor camp, and you were forced to do work, we escaped, and made our way through Termina. Don't mention anything about Auras or the Resistance.**

 **L: Aight.**

 **M: Okie-dokie!**

 **K: Sure.**

Zelda put her phone away and turned back to Mipha. "So what's your story? How'd you get into this school?"

"Oh. My brother and I got in through the swim team. We were the top swimmers in our middle school, and together, we won twelve gold medals and twenty silvers."

"Nice!" Zelda said. "I feel like I won't fit in, though. You've got so many smart, strong, talented, competitive people like yourself. Does it feel tense?"

"Not at all! You won't even notice! I have several friends who didn't have top scores or didn't have any talents or weren't famous. You'll be fine. It's shocking now, but you'll get used to it. I have to get done with my homework for now, you just relax before your classes start."

Mipha dropped her green backpack and pulled a few notebooks and textbooks out of it.

"Do you get a lot of homework at this school?"

"Not normally. For me, it's maximum three hours. There are some days we don't even get homework. Most of the teaching and learning is in the classroom."

Zelda nodded. Damn, they've been talking for a while. Then, her stomach growled.

"Uhh… Mipha? Do you recommend the cafeteria, or do you normally eat somewhere in the city? I'm a bit famished."

"In terms of quality, I'd recommend Telma's out on Sapphire Street. But if you're rushed for time or want free food, just head to the cafeteria. It's really your call."

Zelda had plenty of rupees with her, and she knew that the others had even more money. She'd definitely like a good restaurant today.

She booted up her phone once again.

 **Z: Hey, do you want to go out and eat something? I'm starving.**

 **L: Sure.**

 **M: Where?**

 **Z: My roommate recommended a place called Telma's on Sapphire Street.**

 **K: Let's go then! Let's meet in front of the school.**

* * *

Zelda had made her way to the ground right in front of the foyer-like room. Komali and Malon arrived within five minutes, but Link arrived around ten minutes after.

"What took so long?" Komali asked.

"Sorry. Got lost." Link replied. Zelda shrugged. Even with half the building essentially shut down, it was still a gigantic building.

"It's alright. Let's go." Zelda said, turning around and beginning to walk down to the street. But just then, a girl ran straight into her at almost the highest speed imaginable .

"Get out of my way!" She shouted, face-aimed-to-the-floor and panting. "No one in this goddamn school knows how to move out of my goddamn way!"

This girl had her blonde hair tied up in a strange swirl and was wearing jogger's shorts and a plaid tee shirt. Wireless earpods blasted music so loud that Zelda could hear it from two feet away.

"Well… you're the one who's running." Zelda retaliated. "Why don't you just watch where you're going?"

The girl looked up and was shocked to see a face that almost one-for-one resembled her own.

"The hell?" the girl asked. Zelda was too shocked to say anything but stutters.

"Y-yo" she stammered, unable to get the words out of her mouth. At least now she knew why these people are confusing them.

Link looked at Zelda's face, then looked at this girl's face. Then her face again.

"What?" Link asked. Malon and Komali shrugged.

"You have my face!" the girl exclaimed.

"Well… I guess we found your doppelganger, Tetra." a voice said from behind her. A messy, blonde-haired, slim boy in a sweatshirt and jeans appeared behind the girl.

"Yeah. I NOTICE." Tetra replied, agitated. "Y'know, Sheik, why aren't you the least bit fazed about this?"

"It happens."

Tetra thrust her hand onto Zelda's neck. "Who are you? Why are you impersonating me?"

"I-IF Y-OU COULD NOT SUFFOCATE ME THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL" she croaked. Tetra dropped her death grip as Zelda dropped to her knees. "I'm not impersonating you," she panted. "I guess we just look the same."

The boy looked at them. "I'm sorry about that. If you couldn't tell, Tetra can be a bit abrasive. I'm her twin brother Sheik."

Zelda awkwardly shook his hand. "I'm Zelda…"

The other three behind her introduced themselves, but Zelda couldn't exactly focus on them with whatever exactly was going on.

"So, who exactly are you? I for certain have not seen a doppelganger around here because I would've noticed." Tetra asked.

"We're refugees from Hyrule. We just came in today." Link explained. Sheik and Tetra nodded.

"Hyrule, huh?" Sheik asked. "Even with this school's status towards refugees, we don't get a lot of them."

"How about you?" Malon asked. "How did you get in?"

"I got in through the track team, and my brother got in for being a nerd." Tetra said. Sheik looked like he was about to slap her.

Zelda changed the subject. "Okay… Well… we're going to go to dinner now. See you tomorrow, maybe."

Sheik waved as he pushed Tetra back into the main hall.

"That was… weird." Malon said. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Let's just go eat. I feel like my stomach is starting to digest itself."

* * *

After taking a short taxi ride, the group had arrived at Telma's. It was a large, somewhat busy, formal restaurant with a nice ambience. As the group sat down at a circular table, the waitress gave each of them a menu. After individually ordering their dishes, (Zelda got the blackened cuckoo), the waiter took off with their menu and returned with a platter of bread and butter.

"Did you meet your roommates yet?" Zelda asked.

"Oh, yeah." Link said. "My roommate is this Zora guy named Mikau. He's apparently a well-known musician and has done several concerts. He looked surprised when he learned I've never heard of him, but I used life in Hyrule as an excuse.

Zelda spread a thin line of butter on her bread roll. "Yeah, my roommate is also a Zora. Her name's Mipha. She got in through the swim team. She's probably the nicest person I've met so far."

Malon didn't even touch the bread roll and began licking butter off her knife while the rest of them stared at her in confusion. "My roommate's- what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing," Zelda trailed. "Don't worry about it. Just continue with your story."

Malon put the knife down and cleared her throat. "Alright. My roommate's name is Riju. She's a young Gerudo but I don't really know much about her. She wasn't very chatty."

"Was it because you were spending the entire time talking about yourself?" Komali asked. Malon thought for a bit and nodded.

"I'm rooming with this boy Shad." Komali said. "I didn't ask too much of him, but he sounded like an intellectual. He's not bad, though."

"So, I guess we're in the future?" Link asked, shrugging. "I didn't see any hoverboards or futuristic flying cars or anything. Did you guys discover anything?"

"I've heard Labrynna's outlawed coal and natural gas power plants." Zelda said, finger to her chin. "But that's about all I know. The cities, though, even back in Hyrule were a lot more massive than I anticipated however, though that's probably to be expected if we're in the future."

"Yeah," Komali said. "I've been to Hateno once before, but I never remembered the city being that big. I thought it was just me. Oh, I also looked around the common room for our floor. In the kitchen attached to it, they had this really futuristic toaster that I had no idea how to use. There wasn't a lever to pull the toast down, it was just a huge screen. After I put in a bagel, I didn't have any idea how to take it out and I could tell that it was burning, so I just took it out with a fork. Electricity immunity comes in handy, no?"

"O-Okay?" Zelda asked.

"There was also a television screen in the common room, and it was like, super thin. And I mean thin, as in, thin like paper. I'm pretty sure you could roll that up and store it somewhere."

"My roommate asked me what a newspaper was," Malon said.

The waitress arrived at their table carrying their food. She laid down the plate of blackened salmon in front of Zelda, gave Link some kind of steak, Komali what looked like eggplant parmesan, and Malon mac and cheese.

"Y-" Zelda said, simply beyond belief. "We're at a fancy restaurant and you order mac n' cheese?"

"It was on the menu!" Malon protested.

Zelda facepalmed. "It's on the KIDS menu. Oh my Din I want to scream."

* * *

After dinner, Zelda and the others hit the school store to look for supplies, a long but ultimately boring process.

Zelda turned the key in the knob to enter her room.

"How was dinner?" Mipha asked.

"It was great," Zelda replied. "I ran into Tetra while we were leaving. She could totally pass for my twin."

"Now you see?" Mipha asked, chuckling. "Well, it's getting late. I'll head to bed. You should too. You don't want to be late on your first day, right?"

Zelda smiled. "Yeah. I just hope this isn't too much to handle."


	26. Chapter 26

**Arc 3: Of Homework and Heroes**

 **Chapter 26: Wardrobe Check**

* * *

 _ **~Link~**_

Link stared at his schedule.

 _Homeroom: Room 136, Kafei Michaels_

 _1st Period: Chemistry, Room 263, Rusl Farland_

 _2nd Period: Labrynnan History, Room 346, Seres Sage_

 _3rd Period: Geography, Linebeck Shipley_

 _4th Period: Hyrulean Mythology, Room 723, Jason Bo_

 _5th Period: Physical Education, Gym, Darunia Granite_

 _6th Period: Algebra 2, Room 419, Renado Tan_

 _7th Period: Language Arts, Room 130, Ezlo Capps_

After heavy discussion yesterday via text, everyone deduced that they were all stuffed into the same Hyrulean Mythology and Homeroom class, but everywhere else they were either alone or with one other person in their group.

Eh, whatever. This was a rather full school, so it was kind of inevitable. It was a miracle that they would all be put into ONE class, not to mention two. Because it was a Friday, they were released early at 2:20, so that was a good position to be in for their first day.

What room was Link supposed to be in? It was Friday, so he should be in Labrynnan History first. Room 346. Climbing the stairwell to the third floor, he arrived directly in front of Room 300. Naturally, he walked to the left and watched as the room numbers ascended. He finally found Room 263 and stepped inside.

"Are you… Link Shields?" the teacher asked.

"Y-Yes." He replied.

"A bit bold of you to be late on your first day." the teacher said. "But don't worry. I won't penalize you or mark you tardy. Just find an empty seat. I'm Miss Sage. I look forwards to teaching you this year."

Link looked around the room. For now, the only familiar person was Zelda who was sitting up front. She gestured for him to sit down next to her.

"Before we begin today's lesson, I would like to introduce our two new students from Hyrule. Please welcome Zelda Harkinian and Link Shields." she announced.

Everyone went silent and looked at them. Well… more at Zelda.

It was probably because of her resemblance to Tetra. They could totally pass for twin sisters, and after talking to his roommate Mikau about the school, Tetra was pretty well-known.

Miss Sage picked up a remote and pointed it to the whiteboard, which then lit up and became similar to a television screen displaying a slide presentation.

Link and Zelda jolted back in their chairs.

"Is something the matter?" Miss Sage asked.

"Oh, no, it's just that we've never seen that before," Link explained. "Is that a television mixed with a whiteboard?"

Miss Sage nodded. "I've heard that Hyrule only has the technology from before it was taken over by Ganondorf. He's forbidden new tech, correct?"

Zelda nodded. Link wasn't entirely sure, given how they were kind of asleep for sixty five years, but they couldn't reveal that information.

"It's great that we have some Hyrulean refugees here. We could ask them for information as a first-hand source!"

Link and Zelda sunk into their seats. They likely wouldn't be able to answer any of their questions within that 65-year timespan. But for now, it looked like they would be covering things early enough, around the founding of Labrynna or a bit later than that.

"Shall we begin?" She asked.

Link nodded and picked up his pencil, prepared to take notes.

* * *

"That was the most boring hour and a half of my life," Link said to Zelda as they were leaving the classroom.

"I found it interesting."

"I already know half this stuff. I went to normal school in Lurelin too!"

"It's not like every school in the world stays on the same history scheduling." Zelda replied with a deadass stare.

Link sighed. "Whatever. What's your next class?"

"Hyrulean Mythology. We're in the same class with both Malon and Komali, y'know!"

"Yeah. I forgot about that. But we've got ten minutes to kill; that's more than enough to get to the next class."

A few more of the students came out of the classroom as a short buck-toothed boy and a quiet Sheikah girl approached them.

"You're really not Tetra?" the Sheikah girl asked. Zelda shook her head. "Y-You're not related to her? At all?"

"No, we just happen to look _very_ similar," Zelda replied. "We ran into her last night. It was a shock to say the least."

"Tetra, I don't know what you're doing, but you're not funny" the boy said. "Just by letting your hair down and wearing more girlish clothes doesn't make you a different person." Zelda shot him a death glare.

"Huh? Who doesn't think I'm funny?" a voice rang out from behind. Link turned around to see Tetra standing there with books in her hand.

"O-Oh, Tetra," the boy stammered. "I thought she was y-you a-and you were pulling some kind of prank!"

"Zip it, Niko. You know my pranks are actually funny."

"Didn't one of them get you banned from that one toy store?"

"Shut up."

The girl spoke up. "Umm… are you like a triplet then?"

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked.

"Like… I know Sheik and Tetra were adopted. Maybe you were triplets and got separated at birth?"

"Yeah, no," Zelda said. "Definitely not."

"Why not?" the girl asked. "Did you live with your biological family?"

"Uhh…" Zelda stammered. Link could tell that she was struggling to come up with an excuse.

"Oh, look at that, we have to get to our next class," Link saved. "We can talk about this another time."

"We still have, like, seven minutes!" Tetra said.

He gripped Zelda's arm and pulled her away from the scene. As they were leaving, Tetra muttered something under her breath about them being shady or something.

"Thanks," she said. "This whole 'can't explain' thing is totally stressful."

"No joke."

* * *

The Hyrulean Mythology class was one that Link was semi-excited for. He always loved the myths and stories, and being from Hyrule, he probably knew more about those myths than the teacher did. Of course, they were just myths, but they were fun.

"Hello, class," the teacher said. "I am proud to introduce you all to our four new students from Hyrule, please introduce yourselves,"

Like the last class, most of the class stared at Zelda after introducing themselves. But this time, Tetra happened to be in the same class as them and got half the attention. While Zelda was embarrassed as always, Tetra seemed rather agitated.

"What the hell are you looking at? I'm not related to her!" she shouted. Zelda slowly nodded.

The teacher ignored the commotion. "We have no record that states that Zelda and Tetra are related at all. So stop, it's just a coincidence. As for you four newcomers, my name is Mr. Bo, and I'll be your tea- SHUT UP!"

The entire class went quiet at Mr. Bo's sudden outlash. "Ahem. As for you four newcomers, my name is Mr. Bo, and I'll be your teacher for this Hyrulean mythology class. I hope you have a good time."

* * *

The Algebra 2 class was uneventful. This class didn't have Zelda in it, so he didn't witness anyone mixing up Zelda and Tetra again, but it did have Sheik, Mikau, and Malon. They didn't really have a chance to talk much, though, because Mr. Tan lectured for the entire period. The math as well as the math they expected everyone to know was all new to him, so he argued for a solid five minutes about 'Math is math and it can't change' before he gave up.

As the final bell rung, Mr. Tan released everyone for the day. Link gathered up his stuff and began to leave the classroom as Mikau joined him.

"Yo, Link! How'd you think about your first day of Labrynnan school?"

"It's… different" he replied. "Definitely more challenging than school back at Lurelin in Hyrule."

"What do they even teach you there? I heard they brainwash all the kids with their education techniques to make sure they grow up worshipping their leader."

"Stuff." Link said. "It's a… hard topic for me. I don't like talking about it."

"Oh. I get it." Link sighed. That was a nice dodge. Mikau talked to him about music and the debut of new bands until they arrived back at the dorms.

"Um, actually," Link said. "I'm going to go do my homework in the lounge."

"That's totally fine. Do you mind if I came with you?"

"Sure."

It was Link's first time in the floor's lounge. It was lively, the walls were all painted a nice blue color and there were sofas in front of two television screens the size of a small cinema's. One looked like it was hooked up to a Nintendo Switch, an Xbox, and a PS4, while another seemed like it was hooked up for normal television. On the very left side was a pool table and a foosball table, while the very right was full of desks and computer stations for homework.

"This place is awesome," Link said.

"Yeah," Mikau replied. "If you couldn't tell, the school gets a LOT of funding. Like, twice as much as we need. That's why we have places like this and fun carnivals and events every once in a while."

Link nodded. He plopped down at a desk and pulled out his algebra work.

His phone began to ring in his pocket with group texts.

 **K: Remember, Sunday, three o' clock, we have to be at Impa's.**

 **M: Maybe meet up at 12 in the cafeteria and get lunch?**

 **Z: Alright.**

* * *

After around an hour and a half of nonstop homework, some kid sat down on the sofa and turned on some kind of news channel. At first, Link didn't give it a second thought, but the news anchor said one thing that caught his attention.

 _ **Symmetry City's two superheroes Trickster and Night Hunter have stopped a supposed Yiga bombing at the Line Bridge.**_

Link looked up from his work and walked over to the news.

"Oh, interested in our city's superheroes?" Mikau asked. "I suppose you don't know them. Trickster and Night Hunter. Trickster can run fast and can turn herself invisible, and Night Hunter has the best accuracy and reaction time. They go around stopping criminals."

Link stared at the news program, which showed footage of the two respective heroes. Out on the edge of the bridge, he saw what looked like a boy in some kind of skintight black and navy blue ninja gear that covered his body. He wore a scarf over his mouth and nose that covered just enough to hide his identity with several shurikens on his belt. That must be Night Hunter. He took out a shuriken and threw it at the bomber. Despite him being at the very edge of the bridge and the bomber being at the very center, he managed to hit the bomber over a hundred feet away.

Trickster was a girl dressed somewhat like a pirate. She wore a black eye mask with a red bandanna. A white-and-blue striped shirt laid under an unbuttoned blue cloth vest with a red ribbon around her waist and white shorts. Holding a curved knife, she seemed to vanish for a second before reappearing next to the bomber and punching him unconscious.

Night Hunter threw a shuriken with enough precision to slice one of the wires on the bomb, stopping it from detonating. Meanwhile, Trickster sped around the bomber to quickly tie and restrain him.

 _ **The identity of the Yiga bomber is currently withheld by the Symmetry City Police Force, and Trickster and Night Hunter have refused interview as of now. But for more info, we have Tori at the scene.**_

The scene cut to show a new newswoman, this time standing in front of the bridge.

 _ **I am currently standing here at the scene. As you can see behind me, many vehicles were damaged or destroyed by smaller bombs intended to bring attention and cause havoc. One explosive device in particular was planted inside a taxi on the bridge, presumably one the bomber rode earlier. The driver did not survive. Here, we have some interviews of some witnesses of the event.**_

Several people were interviewed by the newscaster recounting their experience. Meanwhile, Link returned to his desk and texted his friends.

 **L: Did you see the news?**

 **Z: No? What news?**

 **K: I saw it. The two superheroes stopped a bridge bombing. Night Hunter and Trickster. From what I've looked up, they're pretty famous around here. They have their own wiki pages and everything.**

 **M: What are their powers?**

 **K: It looks like Trickster's got speed and invisibility, while Night Hunter's got precision and extremely quick reaction time.**

 **Z: Do you think this was the two Auras that survived Impa's raid?**

 **L: Definitely.**

Link put the phone down and looked at Mikau. "You know what, I'm just going to get the rest of my work done tomorrow and Sunday," he said. Mikau gave him a thumbs' up.

* * *

The next day was spent relaxing and doing work over the weekend. Link had taken the others on a tour around the city to get themselves familiar with. Places like the Shrine of Joy or the Symmetry Towers, or ride in one of the city's famous streetcars. Those kinds of normal, tourist-like things. But the next day, things went back to business.

Link plopped down at a cafeteria table just around 11:50 with a plate of eggs benedict. Malon, Komali, then Zelda came in one by one to join him.

"Y'know, the dining hall food's actually pretty good," Link said. "It's not as good as the food in the Complex near the start, but it's restaurant quality."

Malon spread some kind of green sauce on her toast.

"What's that?" Zelda asked. Malon shrugged.

"The cafeteria lady said it was good." She stuffed it in her mouth and then spat it back out. "Nope, nevermind."

Link squeezed some of the green sauce out of the packet onto his finger and stuck it in his mouth. Instantly, a warm, bitter, and sour flavor came into his mouth, almost unbearingly so. "Wow, this is terrible! Zelda, did you make this?"

Zelda pouted.

Komali picked up the packet. "It says it's some kind of broccoli sauce. Ingredients… broccoli, natural flavor, artificial flavor… that doesn't tell me anything!"

Link stood up to put his tray away as he accidentally rammed into some red-headed guy wearing some kind of blue and purple suit.

"Oh, sorry dude," Link said. The guy turned around and stared at him menacingly.

"Maybe if you had enough money to afford glasses you could've seen me," he said.

"I already said I was sorry!" Link apologized.

"Fine. Now get out of my face and stop wasting my oxygen."

The boy stepped aside as Link awkwardly walked past him to place his tray in the rack. When he was returning, the boy stuck out his leg to trip him.

Link pounded the floor with his fist. Just then, Mikau arrived and pulled him back up.

"Thanks, dude," Link said.

"No problem. That's Ralph. He thinks that just because his father is the CEO of AmbiCorp that he can do anything he wants. Asshole grew up spoiled."

"What's AmbiCorp?" Link asked.

"It's a tech company. The top company in Labrynna."

Link nodded. "I see." Ralph was definitely going to be a huge pain in the ass.

"Well… I'm going to hang out with my friends and go to a club later. You're welcome to come if you'd like."

"Oh, well… I'm going to be a bit busy today." Link replied. "Sorry."

Mikau pursed his lips and nodded. "It's fine."

He turned around and left as Link sighed and made his way back to the table.

* * *

Each of them descended down into the Symmetry City Metro and boarded a train. After three stops, they all got out and ascended back onto the street in front of the pawn shop with relative silence.

Link didn't see Impa at the desk, but instead saw Paya of all people dealing with a customer with some kind of bracelet.

"I'd say maybe around two hundred". The customer said.

"I'll go one fifty." Paya replied.

"One seventy."

"I'll go one fifty at max."

The customer sighed. "Deal."

Paya shook his hand. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Paya?" Zelda asked.

"You guys?" Paya asked. "Why are you here?"

"Do you work here?" Link questioned.

"Yeah, this is my grandmother's shop."

Impa came out from the staff room. "Hello," She said. "Please come into the back."

"Grandmother, these are the Auras?"

"Paya, quiet your voice. Yes, these children. Now, I'm going to have to ask you to run the shop while we're downstairs. Can you handle that?"

"Yeah, yeah, definitely," Paya replied, eyeing them as they went into the back room.

"You have a granddaughter?" Komali asked.

"Yes. My son died in a Yiga attack, so she was put into my care."

"Oh." Link replied. He didn't know what else to say.

"Is school treating you well?" Impa questioned.

"Yeah, it's a great school." Zelda replied.

"Impa, why do you work at a pawn shop of all places?" Malon asked.

"It's mostly to get my hands onto some magic. The majority of magic objects are ancient from the medieval era, but there are a few that were made only around two to three hundred years ago. I'm too old and unqualified to be an archaeologist, and I don't have the skills nor desire to run a museum. This is my best chance to allow ancient or magical objects that no one wants to come to me. It's not too efficient, but it's the best I can do right now."

Link nodded. That made some sense. Impa didn't seem like she left the building often.

Impa cleared her throat. "Now, let's get back onto the matter at hand. You want to be superheroes? Like the people in those comics and movies?"

They nodded.

"Then we have to work on some stuff before we put you into action. In particular, suits."

As the elevator stopped, they walked out into her futuristic lab. They stopped at one station that had some kind of machine holding out what looked like a gray piece of fabric.

"This is what the main material of your outfits will be made out of." Impa said, displaying the fabric. "This fabric has an interesting property. Why don't you just reach out and feel it?"

Link reached his hand out to touch the square of fabric, as did the rest of them. It was soft and stretchy, and would definitely be very comfortable to run around and fight in.

"Notice how your hand sinks in it?" Impa asked. They nodded as Impa turned around and gave them a hammer. "Now, one of you strike this as hard as you can against the fabric."

Link grabbed the hammer and gave it a swing to collide with the square of fabric. However, instead of stretching downwards, it stayed the same shape with an audible *THUNK*. After the hammer made the impact, the material softened back up again to allow it to sink into the fabric.

"This material is an 'armor' of sorts. It's light and easy to move around in, but it will protect you like chainmail against any hard-heaving blows. It's also knifeproof.

To demonstrate, Impa opened a toolbox and gripped a utility knife to slowly stab straight into the fabric. She dragged it around the square, but there was no trace of a cut or a scrape.

"This doesn't mean it's completely invincible. Too hard of a blow, like if a car or a building were to fall on you, and the material will crack and collapse. Not like you'd be alive to notice."

Link sighed. That was… ominous.

"What's it made of?" Zelda asked. "That's not a natural material."

"I don't know the details," Impa replied. "My sister makes all the technology and materials. I use it to research magic."

"Before we begin this next bit, can I have some private time with Link?" Impa asked. They were all visibly confused, but they nodded. Link especially. Impa gripped his forearm and pulled him to the corner of the room onto a sofa.

"What?" Link asked.

"Are you sure that you want to become a superhero?" Impa asked. "I mean, I know that you want to, and I already have a suit developed, but you don't have powers. You may be at risk against high danger opponents such as Aura Yiga members. This is my deepest concern."

"I think I can handle it," Link replied. "If I'm going to take down Ganondorf, these baddies are just level one."

"But hear me out. You have to be careful, more cautious than any of the other three. Remember, don't be reckless. You don't have the enhanced speed, jump, and endurance they have, so you might have to find other ways to pull things off."

Link nodded his head. "I understand." He got where Impa was going, but he felt kind of offended that Impa didn't feel he could stand up to himself.

"Now, you need to prove to me that you can do well with this. If I'm not convinced that you could do something the average person can't, I'll be taking this back. I don't mean to be rude, but this is for your own sake."

Impa stood up along with Link as they walked back to the others.

"Impa, I was thinking about the other two heroes in this city," Komali began. "Trickster and Night Hunter. Are they associated with you too?"

"They were the two Auras that remained after our disaster attempt at defeting Ganon two years ago. Yes, I assisted them the same way that I'm assisting you. But, since that failure, they've grown further from me. I don't think either of them have contacted me for six months. As you can see, they're still active as superheroes, but unless we coax them I doubt they'd be willing to fight again. It might've been a mistake to send them into battle when they were only thirteen… but I was too confident that with that many Auras, especially experienced Auras like that, we'd win with zero casualties. For now, I believe the only hope to defeating Ganon is if we successfully liberate the Aura Complex _and_ recruit skilled Auras from Labrynna, Termina, Holodrum, and Lorule."

"Well… I'm willing to wait. As long as I get my vengeance on Ganondorf some time or another." Link proclaimed.

"Let's get back to the main topic," Impa said, realizing she's gone off course. "Remember when you had your bodies scanned? That was so the suits would fit."

Impa handed each of them a mask. None of them were large enough to obstruct the entire face, but they surrounded the eyes. Link's was black, as Zelda's was white with gold flakes, Komali's mask was gray, and Malon's was red.

"What's the mask for?" Komali asked. "Aren't you going to give us our full outfits?"

"Try them on," Impa replied, smiling. Link sighed and put on his mask as he noticed glowing green light shooting out of it and creeping down his body. When it cleared up, he noticed he was wearing a medieval-style green tunic and light green leggings with brown boots. Then he noticed some other features. To his left thigh, a sword was strapped, and there was what looked like a metal cylinder to his right thigh. And on his right forearm, there was some kind of tablet-like screen. Though he couldn't crane his neck to see it, he could swear there was something strapped to his back. His hands were covered with two black gloves.

"Woah," he said, checking out his front side and leaning over his shoulder to try to get a peek at his back.

"How?" Zelda asked. She held up the mask that Impa had given her. "Is the entire costume embedded in here?"

Impa chuckled. "Don't come to me for specifics on what they're made of or how they work. My sister's the miracle worker. Now, let me explain everything to you. I've designed each of your suits so they would be good for your powers and efficient for fighting. I've also given you all weapons. Now, starting with Link, because he has no powers, I had to give him some tools. That silver stick on your right side, hand it to me."

Link pulled the stick out of his holster and handed it to Impa. She turned it around in her hand and showed them all the buttons on it. "This is a multitool. Each of these buttons turns it into a different object."

She pressed the first button as it quickly morphed into what looked like a grappling gun, but instead of a hooked projectile, was a smooth, metal disk. "This function turns it into a magnetic hookshot. Just aim it at any metal object and depending on how heavy or how pinned down it is, it'll either pull you toward it or pull it towards you. And yes, it works on all metals, not just the magnetic ones."

She pointed to Komali. "Don't ask. I don't know how."

Malon chuckled.

"Other functions include a boomerang and a glider. Those are pretty self-explanatory. And on your right arm is a Sheikah Slate. You can use it to look up things on the internet in a pinch or make a call because you likely won't have your phone available, but you can also use it to summon a motorcycle. I suggest you learn how to drive it, though. This goes for all of you, by the way, but if you ever lose or drop your weapons or tools, you can will it to come back to you. Once again, don't ask me how it works."

"Onto the next one. Zelda. Try it on."

Zelda stared at her mask. From what Link could see, it was shaped slightly different than his. Link's mask was black and rounded like a bandit's, but Zelda's was sharper on the outer-upper tips. Once she put it on her face, her body began glowing gold and died down to reveal her outfit. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, but her top was colored red until the base of her chest. The rest of her torso was colored white. Gold lined where the colors met as well as around the ends of her sleeves, a line around her neck, and around the bottom of the shirt. Meanwhile, her leggings were a solid black color and wore what looked like combat boots. Her hands were concealed in white gloves. Strapped to her back was a golden spear.

"Wow." Zelda said, looking at herself. "At least I didn't get something skimpy… haha."

"Though comics almost always have the women wearing *ahem* revealing clothes, that's not necessary," Impa said. "It's just fan appeal. I suppose you'd prefer not dying over looking *ahem* _sexy_."

Impa silenced herself as awkwardness filled the room.

"Um…" Zelda began. "Is there anything special about my outfit?"

"Not quite," Impa confirmed. "I don't see how shields and light projection require any specific alterations to the suit. Now, Malon, it's your turn."

Malon confusedly pointed to herself.

"Yes, you!"

She stared at her mask. Malon's was the same shape as Link's, but was red on the right side and black on the left. After putting it on and it respectively changing her clothes, it was pretty simple. Her left sleeve and left leg were colored black with it being crimson in the torso. The right side inverted the colors. Her hair was put into a long braid that reached down into the square of her back. However, it looked like the outfit had somehow colored her hair as it started with her natural color at the baseline, but began brightening to an orange at the tip of the braid.

"Did it dye my hair?" She asked. She gripped her braid and pulled it back around so she could see it. "And, my hair's totally not this long."

Impa ignored her observations. "Your suit is fireproof. That's all I have to say about that."

It was then that she looked down to her right thigh. "What?" She asked. Link was standing on her left, so he couldn't see clearly what she was looking at. She stopped for a second before pulling out a wound-up whip. "This is awesome," she said.

"And now for you," Impa said, pointing to Komali. His mask was a dark grey, but adjusted so Komali could wear it with his beak. After putting it on, it deployed his suit as with everyone else. He ended up with a skin-tight grey sleeveless top, with it being slightly darker grey around the shoulders. His leggings were a navy blue. His hair on the other hand looked a bit chaotic.

"I had to request that the sleeves be cut out. It makes you more vulnerable, but as a Rito, you need to deploy your wings every once in a while."

Komali nodded. "I need to be extra careful, then. I'll probably break my arm if I'm too reckless."

On his right side was what looked like a baton. As he picked it up to examine it, Impa wasted no time explaining it.

"It's a nightstick. You beat things with it. This one in particular is small enough to wield easily but gains more force when you swing it."

Komali nodded.

"Umm… Impa?" Malon questioned. "Why do we have gloves?"

"You don't want people finding your fingerprints, and finding your identity, do you?" Impa asked. Malon shook her head. "There's your answer."

"But what about our powers? For Link, I doubt it'll be an issue, but what about the rest of us? We eject things through our hands." Zelda said.

"It likely won't be a problem." Impa said. She pressed a few buttons on the wall as it slid down to the floor to reveal a training room. "Would you like to try?"

Zelda nodded and stepped inside. Impa pressed a few more buttons to cause a wall with a massive window come down from the ceiling. When it was down to the ground, Zelda cupped her hands as a ball of light appeared in it. She chucked it at the wall and shrugged. "I guess you're right."

Malon did the same. Fire appeared regardless of whether or not she had the gloves.

"Your powers don't always eject the energy from your body itself, on most occasions it manifests the energy from just outside your palm. Do you have any further questions?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Alright then. Let's get training."

* * *

 **Sorry this chapter took so long. Hopefully the length makes up for it; this is my longest chapter so far. I had a hard time debating with myself over hero names and outfits and everything, though I just took Link's classic look as well as Zelda's BOTW outfit (with red instead of blue). The others, it's hard for me to visualize, I'm not really sure how it would look. Hopefully good. But unless this fic becomes popular enough to the point where I have people drawing fan art, I think it'll be fine. Please comment and favorite, smash that like button, hit that little beeeellllll, can we get up to 42 likes on this video?**

 **(I'm not on crack I swear)**


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